EIB supports SMEs in Austria

• EU bank provides €100 Millionen for projects in climate protection and innovation
• Raiffeisenlandesbank OÖ matches investments with €100 Millionen
• Part of the money goes to businesses, where women play a leading role

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a €100 million global loan to Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich (RLB OÖ). “We want to use these funds to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) invest, focusing particularly on climate action and innovation projects and on sustainability. Despite the current COVID-19 situation, we must not lose sight of the future – sustainability is therefore playing an increasingly important role for us,” said Heinrich Schaller, CEO of RLB OÖ. A portion of the funds will also go towards promoting investments in companies with female leaders. The idea behind this comes from an EU pilot project in the banking sector that aims to enhance women’s participation in management.

“Supporting SMEs is one of the EU bank’s priorities. These are the businesses that create jobs and that drive the economy. In the challenging economic environment we find ourselves in today, it is vitally important that we give SMEs access to fresh funding,” said Andrew McDowell, the EIB Vice-President responsible for Austria. “The EU bank has worked closely with RLB OÖ for many years. As the EU’s climate bank, we very much welcome this opportunity to strengthen our partnership while focusing on climate action projects.”

“We also hope that through this collaboration, we can help enhance the role of women in Austrian SMEs.” This €100 million loan comes on top of several other agreements concluded between RLB OÖ and the EIB in the past.

Background information

About the RLB OOE

Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberoesterreich (RLB OOE) is the fifth largest bank in Austria with a balance sheet total of EUR 44.4 billion and services retail, corporate and institutional customers in Austria as well as in Southern Germany. RLB OOE works with a large number of customers that are focused on exporting goods and services and supports this business in promising, interesting markets through a global network of partner banks. An experienced and knowledgeable team of specialists guarantees professional and smooth handling with regards to export financing, risk mitigation, company incorporations, account services, cash management solutions, overdraft facilities, project finance etc. As a group with an extensive equity portfolio of approximately 350 participations, RLB OOE is well diversified and has strong ties with the real economy. Additionally, RLB OOE is not only a strong banking partner for globally successful domestic flagship companies but is also a stable and reliable core shareholder.