Brussels, 11/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - Initial loans totalling €200 million for local firms were agreed on Wednesday 10 February in Rome, in the presence of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, when the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Abruzzo Region signed two cooperation agreements designed to support the economic recovery of areas hit hard by last April's earthquake. The two agreements concern the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and urban renovation.
Thanks to today's agreement, loans totalling €200 million will therefore be made available to Abruzzo's SMEs over the coming months. The EIB money will be channelled to small and medium-sized businesses and artisans through local banks selected by the Region, which have pledged to provide matching funding of the same amount. As far as the terms of the loans are concerned, the intermediary banks undertake to pass on to their SME borrowers the benefits of the EIB's AAA-rated funding advantage on the international markets. To support the determined efforts of local businesses to rebuild after the earthquake, the EIB has decided to further reduce the cost of the funds that it is providing to the intermediary banks. The SME loans are aimed at firms with fewer than 250 employees and projects with a maximum cost of €25 million. The agreement on urban reconstruction and regeneration provides for Abruzzo to set up an urban development fund within the existing framework of the EU JESSICA initiative (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas - an instrument based on the use of the structural funds). It has been decided to deploy €30 million in Abruzzo's four provincial capitals, possibly supplemented by additional private or public sector funds. Synergies are also envisaged between this instrument and other existing measures, such as government reconstruction initiatives, the Housing Plan (Piano Casa) and the actions of all institutional bodies involved in the rebuilding effort. (O.L./transl.fl)