New EUR 6 million MSME loan to keep business flowing amid pandemic.

27 July 2021- The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is providing a EUR 6 million to Fondi Besa, to on-lend to micro and small enterprises across the country, especially those outside large cities.

Micro and small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) account for almost 90% of Albania’s economy and are the country’s engine of growth and development.

This BSTDB’s new loan to Fondi Besa complements the Bank’s on-going support for key areas of the Albanian economy, such as agribusiness, manufacturing and services industry.

This is the fourth BSTDB’s loan to Fondi Besa since the start of cooperation in 2014.  Since then, the Bank has injected a total of EUR 21 million in the Albanian economy through Fondi Besa.  The BSTDB’s facilities have helped to finance more than 10.000 individual Albanian businesses.

“Building on the solid partnership we have with Fondi Besa,  we are delighted to continue providing fresh funds that will strengthen the real economy in the country, especially at the time when the pandemic puts Albania’s economy under unprecedented pressure, with small businesses suffering the hardest”,  said Dmitry Pankin, BSTDB President.

“Through the new loan, the Fondi BESA will continue to finance existing businesses and start-ups, which are the backbone of the Albanian economy, thus creating employment and contributing to poverty reduction in urban and rural areas of the country. The continued support of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank over the past seven years, as well as during the COVID-19 crisis period, is a clear indication of the trust and cooperation between our two institutions. We strongly believe that our partnership and cooperation with the Bank for Trade and Development of the Black Sea will be further developed in the future “, said Bajram Muçaj, Executive Director of Fondi BESA.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The BSTDB headquarters are in Thessaloniki, Greece. BSTDB supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, credit lines, equity and guarantees for projects and trade financing in the public and private sectors in its member countries. The authorized capital of the Bank is EUR 3.45 billion. BSTDB is rated long-term “A-” by Standard and Poor’s, “A2” by Moody’s and “A+” by the Russian credit rating agency ACRA. For information on BSTDB, visit www.bstdb.org.