Bulgarian Development Bank to Offer Loans to Startups, SMEs in 2014

In 2014, the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) will give loans to small and medium-sized startup businesses, according to Dimo Spasov, Executive Director of the BDB.

In an interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), Spasov explained that the rise in bad mortgage loans was expected to continue, while with non-performing consumer and company loans the trend was expected to bottom out and they were expected to drop.

Spasov expressed optimism that the exit from the crisis in Europe would have an impact on the Bulgarian economy and the companies would eventually be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

He reminded that the BDB had to help these companies until that happened.

Spasov also commented on the decision of the government from October 23 on the state guarantees and loans in 2014.

He specified that the State guarantees would be issued under loan agreements for the funding of the Bulgaria-Greece gas grid interconnection (up to BGN 157 M) and new external loan agreements of the BDB with the European Investment Bank (EIB) (up to BGN 300 M).

The CEO of the BDB informed that the resources would mostly go to loans for small and medium-sized enterprises, the emphasis being on start-ups, which was a new aspect of the bank's policy.

He added that the BDB would finance innovations, craftsmen, and self-employed persons in agriculture.

He explained that the BDB was undergoing a restart in order to switch from a typical commercial bank into a financial institution backing the development of businesses.

Spasov stressed that the State guarantees would be the financial instrument which would allow the BDB to achieve this goal and to provide attractive loan conditions to companies.

He said that the BDB was developing a new strategy for its activity which was yet to be approved by the government.

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