The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) have teamed up with ProCredit Bank Skopje to expand access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises across North Macedonia.
Under the agreement, the EBRD will extend an unfunded risk-sharing guarantee of up to €25 million to ProCredit Bank Skopje. The instrument will cover up to 50 per cent of the credit risk on new loans issued by the bank, supporting as much as €50 million in fresh MSME financing through the EBRD’s portfolio risk-sharing framework.
The guarantee is supported by technical assistance and a first-loss counter-guarantee under the EU’s European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) programme. It is aimed particularly at businesses with limited access to traditional banking services, including firms led by women and young entrepreneurs, as well as rural MSMEs.
By sharing part of the lending risk, the EBRD and EU intend to help ProCredit strengthen its balance sheet resilience while expanding its lending reach. The portfolio structure adds another financing option to the market, using an innovative approach designed to reduce risk exposure for partner banks and close financing gaps for smaller firms.
Fatih Türkmenoğlu, EBRD Head of North Macedonia, said: “This partnership with ProCredit Bank Skopje, supported by the European Union, marks an important step forward in widening access to finance for underserved businesses across North Macedonia. By sharing risk and blending innovative financial tools with targeted technical assistance, we are helping more MSMEs invest confidently in their growth and resilience. This is the kind of inclusive and sustainable financing the EBRD is committed to advancing throughout the Western Balkans.”
Milan Damchevski, Management Board member of ProCredit Bank, added: “This initiative, implemented through a portfolio guarantee scheme, enhances support for MSMEs in North Macedonia and represents a significant step towards their further development. It reaffirms our longstanding cooperation with the EBRD, supported by the EU, as well as our long-term commitment to fostering the development of the real economy. Through this guarantee, ProCredit Bank can expand lending to market segments that tend to face limited access to finance – in particular, businesses led by women and young entrepreneurs, as well as rural micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. We believe that this approach will contribute to strengthening their resilience and will support sustainable, long-term growth.”
The EBRD remains one of the main institutional investors in North Macedonia, with more than €3 billion channelled into projects supporting sustainable development, infrastructure upgrades, private sector activity and regional integration.
