10 September – Mikro Kapital celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Romanian branch, Mikro Kapital Romania, which commenced operations in the country in 2016. For the occasion the opening of a new office in the Transylvania region was announced, which will join the ten branches already operational in the east and south of the country.

Over the years Mikro Kapital Romania has supported over 3,500 clients by providing resources in working capital and capital for investments with over 4,000 loans totalling €30 million euros. The customer portfolio is 54% related to agriculture and 46% to other sectors. Lending in rural areas is prevalent since access to financing is more difficult for companies in those areas. Furthermore, agribusiness is an important economic sector in Romania: in fact, the country is fifth in Europe for agricultural area used, and is among the main producers and exporters of cereals and livestock.

Microcredit in the Romanian market has seen significant growth in recent years: from 2016 to 2018 the sector grew by 94% in terms of the value of loans disbursed (from 166 to 322 million euros) with a 7% increase in the number of micro loans.

Vincenzo Trani, the chairman of the Mikro Kapital Group, commented: “We are very pleased with the results achieved by our Romanian subsidiary, which confirms our strategy in the mission of supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in rapidly developing areas of the world, promoting financial inclusion through micro credit or innovative financial services that also consider the relative social and economic impact”.

Andrei Bostaca, CEO of Mikro Kapital Romania, added: “Today we have agencies in the main cities of southern and eastern Romania, and we have become one of the leading microfinance operators for business and agriculture. So far we have provided over 4,000 loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in the local market, an injection of fresh capital that has helped their development”.