Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego concluded a contract with 11 banks concerning launching of a loan guarantee facility for native companies functioning in the sector of SME. The support will be provided within the COSME program and the European Fund for Strategic Investments, which is a part of the Juncker's plan. The macroeconomic importance of the Juncker's plan depends on activity of the private sector and use of different instruments. Hence, the engagement of private banks and handing information to investors who would like to benefit from the support concerning new instruments available within the Juncker's plan is really important – says Minister of Finances Mateusz Szczurek.
The main objective of the European Fund for Strategic Investments is to stimulate investment projects with the value of 315 billion euro by the end of 2017 and thus stimulate the economy of the European Union. The amount of private and public investments is increasing on the domestic market so there is no much need to stimulate them. However, the implementation of the loan guarantee facility will contribute to the fact that companies will be more frequently engaged on investments in development. These new instruments will certainly enable investment opportunities for new entities which cannot benefit from the de minimis program because they have already used all limits or they are not entitled to the public support. Therefore, the instruments will allow to create new work places – ensures Mateusz Szczurek.
The de minimis program is one of the programs aimed at support of the SME sector. The loan guarantee facilities were granted to over 95 thousand entities in this formula till the end of September. The COSME initiative is to complement the support gained within de minimis. Thanks to the fact that we concluded the agreement with the European Investment Fund as the first institution in Europe, we offer an access to the loan guarantee facility to Polish entrepreneurs which allows them to obtain financing in their own bank without necessity of settling the security – says Dariusz Kacprzyk, chairman of the board in BGK. Micro- and small companies – no matter of the industry or a kind of a company – may incur credit more easily and on more attractive financial conditions.
Thanks to concluded agreement with BGK, 11 banks will be able to grant credits with guarantee of BGK to micro, small and medium enterprises. They will amount to maximally 800 million zlotys and they will enable secure of credit stock with the value of 1 billion zlotys for ca. 5 thousand entities from the sector of SME. The expectations of the market are really high. According to the research prepared by our institution, over 70 per cent of small and medium entrepreneurs are expecting such instruments of refundable financing, that is mainly credits for financing of working capital, for covering necessary needs as well as investment credits – explains Arkadiusz Lewicki, chairman of National Contact Point for Financial Instruments of UE Programs at Polish Bank Association.
Next to de minimis and COSME programs, there will be also other instruments of support dedicated to enterprises. We are currently conducting advanced works at other guarantee programs which will be concentrated on such areas as innovative companies or innovative products – informs Dariusz Kacprzyk.