HeavyFinance and the European Funding Fund (EIF) have signed a portfolio assure of as much as €10.5m (£8.7m) to assist agricultural companies in Poland and Lithuania on their sustainability transformation.
The assure will assist to ship €15m of latest debt financing to 550 farmers in Poland and Lithuania.
The transaction is supported by the InvestEU programme, which goals to mobilise greater than €372bn in extra funding for European Union coverage priorities over the interval 2021-27.
Various lender HeavyFinance is current in six nations and has already enabled greater than €60m in agricultural loans to advertise sustainable practices, modernise gear, and improve working capital in agriculture.
Learn extra: HeavyFinance allocates €1.33m in July
“We’re very glad to be teaming up with HeavyFinance once more, to be able to make financing extra available for Polish agricultural companies,” mentioned EIF chief govt Marjut Falkstedt. “Boosting various financing channels is essential in a tough interval for European companies, and much more so for weak segments of the financial system like smaller companies which might be looking for to transition to a extra sustainable footing.”
EIB vice chairman professor Teresa Czerwinska added: “The agriculture and bioeconomy sector is a strategic sector for the EIB Group. There’s a steady want for funding to improve bodily property, improve use of digital expertise in manufacturing processes and enhance useful resource effectivity. The sector is generally made up of farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises, mid-caps and cooperatives which might be comparatively underserved by the monetary sector. Particularly, agriculture in Poland is going through quite a lot of transitional challenges corresponding to: succession problem, technological problem or local weather adaptation problem. Thus, enhancing the entry to finance to this sector is essential.”
Learn extra: HeavyFinance secures funding from Lithuanian establishment
HeavyFinance founder and chief govt Laimonas Noreika continued: “Agriculture performs a important position in local weather change mitigation due to the soil’s capacity to behave as a carbon sink, storing carbon in natural types for lengthy intervals. To hurry up the struggle in opposition to local weather change, we have to improve entry to capital to small and medium-sized farm house owners who personal nearly all of agricultural land in Europe.”
The InvestEU Fund is deployed via implementing companions that may put money into initiatives utilizing the €26.2bn EU price range assure.
Your entire price range assure is meant to again the funding initiatives of the implementing companions, improve their risk-bearing capability and mobilise not less than €372bn in extra funding.
Learn extra: European Funding Fund: Backing sustainable improvement