Hellenic Bank allocates EUR 28 mln for Cyprus

Hellenic Bank has decided to allocate EUR 28 mln out of the EUR 58 mln that it borrowed from the EIB to Cyprus based small and medium sized enterprises, with the remaining EUR 30 mln earmarked for lending to SMEs in Greece.
George Evripidou, Business Services Division Manager, told FinancialMirror.TV that Hellenic Bank will match the EIB loans and lend the total amount to the market.
“Thus in Cyprus, we (Hellenic Bank) will lend a total of EUR 56 mln to SMEs and in Greece the amount of EUR 60 mln, for a total of EUR 116 mln.”
All SMEs employing less than 250 persons and an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 mln or an annual balance sheet total value not exceeding EUR 43 mln are eligible to apply. In effect, about 90% of Cyprus businesses are eligible. Holding and Leasing companies and those involved in gambling, tobacco and other offending sectors as well as property development companies will not be allowed to participate.
Evripidou told FinancialMirror.TV that Hellenic Bank will launch a specific package very soon through which SMEs will be able to participate in the lending scheme.
“The pricing of the loans will be decided very soon, perhaps by the end of this week,” said Evripidou, adding that the duration of the loans may be 2-12 years with a 2-year grace period on capital with the pricing of the loans based on Euribor, plus a spread.
Evripidou said that the EIB has the right to decline a loan request.