Start-Up Nation 2017 program: Bridge loan backing from dedicated guarantee fund for 4,800 projects

The National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (FNGCIMM) issued 4,800 guarantees under the Start-Up Nation 2017 program, the agency said in a release. 

"The successful unfolding of guarantees to the beneficiaries of loans disbursed under the Start-Up Nation 2017 is the result of the Fund's good operational coordination, due to the institution's highly adjustable body of professionals, as proven by the generation of optimized, digitized approval flows that meet the pragmatic needs of a program of national scale. Good inter-institutional cooperation between FNGCIMM and the Ministry for Business, Trade and Entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Public Finance and our colleagues from the National Counter-guarantee Fund has contributed to streamlining analysis processes," said Alexandru Petrescu, general manager of the National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. 

Launched in mid-September 2017, the bridge loan guarantee mechanism proved an efficient optimization instrument in the unfolding of the Start-Up Nation Program, boosting access to the funding required by the projects' implementation and providing ease of access due to lower costs under the counter-guarantee facility offered by the Romanian Counter-guarantee Fund - the standard EU-regulated fee of 3.8 pct was cut to 2.48 pct. 

Some 65 pct of the total number of entrepreneurs who accessed the pre-financing loan guarantee scheme also took out counter-guarantees. The bulk of the obtained financing was directed towards investment projects (99 pct), confirming the program's role as a catalyst for sustainable national economic development. 

FNGCIMM issued under the Start Up Nation 2017 program 4,800 guarantees for bridge loans, accounting for more than half (57 pct) of the total 8,444 projects that received the seal of approval for financing by the end of 2017. The manufacturing industry accounts for 56 pct of the total guarantees issued by FNGCIMM under the Start-Up Nation 2017 program, representing the main destination of the financed investment projects; the food sector had the most business initiatives, followed by the furniture industry. 

Beneficiaries from all the counties applied for FNGCIMM guarantee letters, with the Bucharest - Ilfov Region, the counties of Cluj and Bihor topping the ranking.