Serbian women business owners supported by the EBRD, Sweden, and Banca Intesa

New financing options offered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Banca Intesa Belgrade in Serbia will be advantageous to women-owned enterprises. A €5 million credit line will encourage investments by female entrepreneurs, and Sweden is supporting it with grants for technical help and advising support.

Women-led small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are typically viewed as a riskier category in the nations where the EBRD invests, including Serbia, due to their small size and propensity to have less hard collateral.

Women business owners will gain from risk-sharing under the new credit line, with the EBRD covering up to 8% of the loan amount. More female business owners will be able to apply for and get finance as a result, who would not otherwise be able to offer hard collateral.

"Creating equal opportunities for women in business is not only a gender issue, but it is also essential for any country to advance towards reaching its full economic potential," said Aleksandra Vukosavljevic, Director of Financial Institutions, Western Balkans and Eastern Europe at the EBRD. It is particularly important in the economies where the EBRD invests since access to capital frequently prevents women from starting or expanding their enterprises.

The EBRD and Banca Intesa Belgrade have been working together to promote women entrepreneurs access to capital for a long time. Since joining the EBRD's Women in Business initiative in 2015, the bank has provided over €33 million to support more than 3,000 investments by women-led firms, most of which are situated outside of Belgrade.

As the first bank in Serbia to join the EBRD's Women in Business programme, Darko Popovi, President of the Executive Board of Banca Intesa Belgrade, stated: "I am delighted that Banca Intesa Belgrade will continue to support women entrepreneurs in Serbia, who make up over a quarter of our business community. So far, we have provided women entrepreneurs with loans totaling €33 million under this initiative and attractive financing terms, boosting this crucial sector and promoting the economic well-being of the nation as a whole. According to the Outstanding Women in the Business award that the EBRD gave to our customer Dragana Milanovi, owner of the Roberto Baressi brand, we have effectively assisted more than 3,000 women-owned SMEs using these funds.”

The EBRD's Women in Business initiative, which supports women's entrepreneurship and their engagement in business in general by giving them access to capital and expertise, finances enterprises led or owned by women.

Since launching the project in the Western Balkans in 2014, the EBRD has provided support to more than 5,000 women-owned businesses. The program's regional conference will take place in Podgorica on June 21–22, 2023, and honor the participating financial institutions for their efforts and contributions to women's empowerment in the area.