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Add to Preferred SourcesReinforcing its commitment to Romania’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EBRD is providing a €5 million loan to Autonom Services S.A., the country’s largest locally owned provider of short-term mobility services.
The loan agreement was signed in Bucharest by EBRD President, Suma Chakrabarti, and co-founder of the company, Marius Stefan.
Autonom, founded in 2006 by two brothers, Marius and Dan Stefan, now has a network of 45 car rental centres across Romania, subsidiaries in Hungary and Serbia and a total of 8,000 vehicles. It also provides car-fleet management services and full-service leasing.
The EBRD’s loan will enable the company to expand its car fleet in order to meet growing demand from Romanian firms, including SMEs.
Previously, the company has received support under the EBRD’s Advice for Small Businesses programme in Romania funded by the Austrian government. With the help of an international adviser, Autonom was able to access new sources of finance and grow its business.
The EBRD is among the top institutional investors in Romania. To date, the Bank has invested close to €8 billion in the country in more than 400 projects. In 2017 alone, it invested €550 million in Romania.
Of this financing, over €500 million was provided to the private sector, the highest level seen in the past seven years.
Original source: EBRD
Published on 17 September 2018