Brussels, 08/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 8 October, BNP Paribas and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an initial re-financing convention for €300 million. BNP Paribas also granted the first ever “EIB loan to SMEs” on the same credit line. The signing of this agreement follows the proposal made by Christine Lagarde, the French minister for the economy, industry and employment, on 12-13 September, to her colleagues at the Ecofin in Nice, for mobilising €30bn from the EIB, 15 billion of which for 2008 and 2009 to help support European SME investment.
The signing of the convention took place at the premises of Prodene Kint, an innovative SME and customer of BNP Paribas, which is the first European firm to benefit from an “EIB SME loan”. This new loans formula is more simple and flexible and will allow European banks to finance all kinds of investment or spending needed for developing European companies that have less than 205 employees on their payrolls. Investment can be used for material and non-material objectives or working capital loans. Prodene Klint has a workforce of 203 at Marne-la-Vallée and benefited from a BNP Paribas loan of €180,000 to purchase equipment for developing a skin disinfectant used by the medical community (to prevent nosocomial infections) and industry.
Christine Lagarde, Philippe de Fontaine Vive, the EIB vice president, and Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, the delegate director general at BNP Paribas, used this occasion to visit the Prodene Klint laboratories. Ms Lagarde declared: “I asked…my European counterparts meeting in Nice to mobilise support for our SMEs to the tune of €15bn. To give out the first cheque resulting from this decision in less than three weeks, is an exploit that proves the European determination to cushion the financial shocks on the real economy”. Philippe de Fontaine Vive was also on the same wavelength and stated: “The EIB considers that the €15bn loan through the commercial banks is a message of confidence in the future European economic fabric and in its financial system. Transparency in favour of the SMEs that this new instrument will bring, demonstrates that financiers are listening to them”. Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said that he was very happy that “BNP Paribas is the first bank to sign this loan in favour of European SMEs, at a time when the Group is extending its presence in Europe”. He added that “BNP Paribas is a bank of the real economy and continues to accompany its SME customers in their development projects”. (O.L./transl.rh)