Greek companies impacted by COVID to receive EUR 1.125 billion

This financial support will be available for SMEs, MidCaps, and large corporates

The past year and a half have caused significant damage to businesses, with many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) being forced to shut down. Understanding that companies are at the heart of economic growth and national recovery, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIB) have teamed up with the National Bank of Greece (NBG) to provide financial support for those who have been impacted by the COVID crisis.

Over EUR 1 billion will be allocated to Greek companies

The EIB has announced that EUR 1.125 billion of financing will be distributed to support SMEs, MidCaps and large corporates in Greece. This was agreed on Thursday 24 June at a signature ceremony in Athens. Taking this further, Chief Executive Officer of NBG Pavlos Mylonas, President of the EIB Werner Hoyer, EIB Vice President responsible for Greece Christian Kettel Thomsen, and Chief Executive Officer of the EIF Alain Godard agreed on this financial aid.

In a press release by EIB, Christian Kettel Thomsen commented: “The EIB’s latest cooperation with NBG comes at a crucial time for the Greek economy and together we will help Greek companies to contribute to national recovery. Deployment of the European Guarantee Fund marks the first time that the EIB has provided guarantees for business financing in the country and the first ever EIB support for financing for larger companies in Greece through a local banking partner.”

What is the European Guarantee Fund?

Soon after the outbreak of COVID, the EIB Group and EU Member States agreed on a model which would tackle the economic impact of the pandemic. Thus, they created the European Guarantee Fund: a EUR 25 billion pan-European fund that would protect businesses which have been hit hard by the effects of COVID.

Now, Greek companies of all sizes will be able to access financing that will help them overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic and allow them to invest for their future growth.