OTP Bank has granted the first loans guaranteed through the IMM Invest Romania Program. Among them is the Romanian container manufacturer Lucimet Prod SRL. The financing of 1 million lei is already used by the company and provides working capital in order to increase productivity for the Bucharest factory.
OTP Bank has joined the start of the largest government program to guarantee loans for small and medium enterprises, IMM Invest Romania, and at the beginning of May, the process of signing the Agreement for Guarantee and Payment of Grants with the National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises was completed. A few weeks later financing requests have gone through the approval process and customers have begun making use of their credits.
However, the economic crisis generated by the coronavirus pandemic and the limitation of the possibility of export during the state of emergency affected, through delayed contracts and the reduction of delivered volumes, less known areas of activity, such as the metal construction segment.
"These are difficult times, of crisis and uncertainty for all entrepreneurs, I would say. Some are considering closing their businesses, and most of them have reduced the number of employees or requested technical unemployment. We have hope and stubbornly protected our human resources. And not only that. We have adapted to the new normality by offering better prices for the Romanian market and for Western Europe. But we could not have done this without the support of OTP Bank Romania. We are content with the received counselling and the pace with which we came into use of the requested financing", said Gheorghe Cornel Udrea, Lucimet.
Lucimet Prod, the first company in the portfolio of OTP Bank Romania to obtain financing through the IMM Invest Romania Program, has been producing, for 17 years, metal constructions, containers, containers with special functions and for waste collection, sorting, compaction and transport.
"Society and the business environment are changing. We observe this closely and meet the companies that are looking to survive this crisis or, moreover, to reinvent themselves, and an example is Lucimet Prod SRL. The pandemic generated by the COVID 19 virus affected us, directly or indirectly, not only personally, but also had a negative effect on the economy, and the most vulnerable are small companies, unfortunately. We have set ourselves the main objective of rewarding the trust given by our partners through professionalism, personalized advice and promptness in processing credit applications because we understand the urgency to restart the economy", said Alexandru Gabriel Neagu, Director of SMEs at OTP Bank Romania.
OTP Bank has created a dedicated information section for customers that want to find out more about the IMM Invest Romania Program and a special form on the bank's website, so that they can receive as soon as possible the support and counselling they need to access financing solutions: https://www.otpbank.ro/en/sme/loans/imm-invest-romania.
About OTP Bank Romania
OTP Bank Romania, a subsidiary of OTP Group, is an integrated and self-financed provider of financial services. With an approach defined by responsibility, commitment and professionalism, OTP Bank Romania understands the needs of clients and the current context of the market and is a trusted partner in the provision of financial services. The bank ranks 9th in terms of assets in the ranking of banking players in Romania, as of December 2018.
OTP Group has more than 70 years of activity in the financial sector in Central and Eastern Europe, while the Romanian subsidiary has marked 15 years of presence in the local market. Promoting innovation, stable growth and integrated financial services, OTP Group has become a dominant player in the Central and Eastern European market and is considered an important banking group even on a European scale. The community of about 36 thousand employees serves nearly 19 million customers daily in 12 countries.
