EBRD to Finalize Financial Support on Albanian Agriculture Sector

TIRANA, July 2016

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is going to support the Albanian agriculture sector with another financing instrument. It is expected that the agreement will be signed in Tirana during the upcoming week when the EBRD President, Suma Chakrabarti will visit Albania.
Head of the EBRD’s Albanian office Christoph Denk has declared in previous statements that the EBRD aims to enhance access to finance for local agribusinesses by providing dedicated credit lines to Albanian banks and microfinance institutions or by sharing with them the risk of lending to the agribusiness sector.
“Agriculture is a vital sector of Albania’s economy. It provides employment for almost 50 percent of the population in rural areas and accounts for around 20 percent of the country’s GDP,” Denk said.
According to him, EBRD in cooperation with second-tier banks are going to launch the project on financial support for Albanian agribusiness within July.
Agriculture and agribusiness are important sectors of the Albanian economy and source of income for half of population. Therefore, EBRD in cooperation with the Albanian government are taking into consideration a financing structure that reaches up to EUR 100 million for the implementation of the project on supporting Albanian agribusiness
On his part, the EBRD President, Suma Chakrabarti, will visit Kosovo, Albania, and Montenegro next week. He will meet top officials in all three countries to discuss the growing importance of the Western Balkans for the EBRD and its role in the region.
According to the press release issued by EBRD, the President will also meet representatives of the business and diplomatic communities and other international financial institutions active in the region. He will sign loan agreements in Kosovo, launch an agriculture financing facility in Albania and attend a ground-breaking ceremony for an agricultural distribution centre in Montenegro.
“The Western Balkans is one of our priorities,” he said ahead of his visit.

News Source: ATA