- EUR 130 million in financing to support ALTUM’s measures to help Latvian businesses cope with the economic consequences of the Covid-outbreak.
- Signed in early July, so far more than 470 Latvian businesses have been supported with various measures, including lower interest rates and longer repayment horizons.
Together with the Latvian Ministry of Economy, in mid-March Altum launched a EUR 200m Covid-19 Working Capital Loan Programme, a support mechanism for Latvian businesses impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. To expand the capabilities of this programme to safeguard Latvian businesses and jobs, in July the European Investment Bank lent ALTUM €80 million in Covid-related financing. The Government of the Republic of Latvia provided additional €50 million. So far, the European financing has helped ALTUM to support 475 Latvian companies, thus making sure that more than 1580 people’s jobs were safeguarded.
EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros:
“Small and medium-sized businesses are essential to Latvia’s quick recovery from the ongoing economic downturn. The Latvian government and ALTUM are doing all they can to support SMEs and the Bank is glad that it can back up this programme. Since the financing was signed in August, we can already see the positive effects of the programme. We will continue to support ALTUM, a longstanding partner of the EIB, wherever we can.”
Reinis Bērziņš, ALTUM Management Board Chairman:
“With support from the government and the EIB, ALTUM is providing swift assistance to businesses to help them cope with the difficulties caused by the negative impact of Covid-19 outbreak. The combined positive effect of all ALTUM’s financial instruments on the economy since the start of the crisis up to this day have exceeded 625 million,and increasing daily. It’s a good thing that we can continue our fruitful collaboration with the EIB to support Latvian small and medium-sized enterprises and help to safeguard many jobs.”
The EIB-backed programme consists of short-term loans (up to 3 years) to Latvian companies struggling with a substantial decrease in operations and therefore in need of liquidity support. The EIB’s funds have helped Altum to support the SMEs in a timely manner with advantageous financial conditions, such as lower interest rates and longer repayment or grace periods.