EIB’s European Investment Fund wants EUR 400 mln

The European Investment Fund (EIF), a specialist provider of risk finance to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) based in Europe, has committed to investing between EUR600m and EUR700m to Romanian companies by 2026 if it receives EUR 400 mln under the country’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, says Pablo Millan, head of the EIF equity division.

“We discussed with the Romanian Government to use part of the funds allocated through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR),” he announced, quoted by Ziarul Financiar. It is not particularly clear whether the EIF seeks grants or loans, but the latter is more likely.

EIF is a division of the European Investment Bank (EIB) which invests through partners, private equity funds. In total, it works with eight private equity funds active in Romania at the moment. While there are two inactive ones.

The others are Sarmis Capital, Catalyst 2, Gap Minder, Early Game Ventures, Black Sea Fund, and Morphosis Capital.

“We multiply money from public sources, bringing in private investors, we cover funding gaps, we try to allocate money where more resources are needed, we create a sustainable industry that remains long-term. That’s what FEI does,” Millan argues.