Promoting stability in Southeast Europe through SME financing

Frankfurt am Main (ots) -

- European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) celebrates tenth
anniversary
- Loans issued to partner institutions total EUR 1.8 billion
- Over 500,000 jobs created or safeguarded

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) celebrated its tenth
anniversary today within the scope of its annual conference in Berlin
(entitled "Balancing The Future"). Since it was founded in 2005, the
fund has allocated more than EUR 1.8 billion to local partner banks
located in 16 countries in Southeast Europe, Eastern Europe and the
Caucasus. These partner institutions have then used this long-term
provision of funds to grant loans - often repeatedly - to small and
medium-sized enterprises and low-income households. Overall, the fund
has provided more than 660,000 individual loans since its inception,
with a total volume of around EUR 4.7 billion.

The EFSE was established by KfW with support from the Federal
Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and other
public-sector donors. It has to this day significantly improved
access to long-term financing for micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises in the region. These loans have enabled some 500,000 jobs
to be created or safeguarded in a region that stretches from the
Western Balkans through Ukraine to Armenia.

Dr Norbert Kloppenburg, Member of the Executive Board of KfW
Group, praised the fund's work. "Over the last ten years, the EFSE
has proved an important instrument in the expansion of small and
medium-sized enterprises. This in turn has made an effective
contribution to the stabilisation of the region. The companies in
receipt of funding are a powerful driver of economic development and
the prosperity of the population of the target countries."

The EFSE, which is registered in Luxembourg, is one of the world's
largest microfinance funds. It is based on a public-private
partnership that involves not only the public sector and private
institutional investors, but international financial institutions and
promotional banks as well.

Its above-average performance has received widespread recognition,
including at the G20 summit held in Seoul in November 2010, where the
EFSE won first prize in the "G20 SME Finance Challenge". The prize
was awarded by US President Barack Obama.

Further information on the EFSE is available at www.efse.lu For
further information on KfW Development Bank, see
www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de.

Contact:
KfW, Palmengartenstr. 5 - 9, 60325 Frankfurt
Kommunikation (KOM), Dr. Charis Pöthig,
Tel. +49 (0)69 7431 4683, Fax: +49 (0)69 7431 3266,
E-Mail: Charis.Poethig@kfw.de, Internet: www.kfw.de