Two hundred and fifty million euros from the bilateral loan with Hungary are becoming operational. The Government has decided to make them available to the Macedonian economy, i.e. to companies. This was announced by the Minister of Finance Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska, at today’s joint press conference with Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, after the adoption of the agreements for the credit line for financing investments and development of private companies, which will be placed through the Development Bank, and to the end users through commercial banks.
“With today’s decisions made by the Government, we are entering the final phase of the operationalization of the funds from the Hungarian loan intended for companies. By signing the agreements, the way is opened for the Development Bank to receive the funds from the Budget, and then for them to be transferred to the commercial banks – participants in this program, and from there to the companies. Specifically, with the signing of the agreements, the operationalization of the funds from the credit line for financing investments and development of private companies in the amount of 250 million euros in denar equivalent through commercial banks will begin,” the minister said.
She added that the conditions are more than attractive, with an interest rate of 1.95%, a repayment term of up to 15 years and a grace period of up to 3 years.
According to the minister, this represents a huge opportunity and incentive for domestic companies to be encouraged and enter into investment.
“The goal was to create opportunities for the realization of sustainable investments and therefore the support is directed at all sectors for investments in fixed assets, with domestic companies having to participate with 20% of their own funds. An exception to this widely established support are the sectors of production or trade in alcoholic beverages, except for beer and wine, production or trade in tobacco, as well as activities related to gambling, casinos and equivalent enterprises,” the minister emphasized.
She pointed out that the task of the Government and the Ministry is to ensure fair conditions for all companies, i.e. the funds will be allocated transparently and that each company will have equal opportunities and the same conditions for their use.
“The support we provide with this credit line will stimulate an investment cycle of over 250 million euros, which is part of our new concept for economic growth based on investments. In this way, it will also affect the improvement of the productivity of companies – a challenge that was noted in the past period. That is the benefit that we expect from this measure for which the Government has invested really great efforts in order for the funds to be available to companies on really favorable terms,” said the Minister of Finance.