According to a press release from SID Bank, the agreement was signed by SID Bank chairman Sibil Svilan and EIB vice president Laszlo Baranyay.

The loan will enable SID Bank to launch a new stimulus and development programme for municipalities this summer, implementing it both directly and indirectly in cooperation with commercial banks.

The loans available under the programme will have a maturity of 20 years with the value of individual financed project capped at EUR 20m.

The export and development bank implemented a similar programme for the financing of municipal infrastructure projects in 2009-2015 with loans of the EIB and the Council of Europe Development Bank, supporting 52 projects valued at a total of EUR 43m.

Since launching cooperation with the EIB in 2009, the SID Bank has borrowed EUR 1.108bn, which represents about 30% of loans the EIB approved for Slovenia, Svilan said.

The loans have been used to finance growth and development of small and medium-sized businesses, development projects of car industry, energy efficiency and renewables, research, development and innovation and infrastructure financing.