The Fund of Funds selected two intermediaries to implement the financial instrument "Portfolio guarantee with a loss cap for the circular economy." The Sustainable Cities Fund will manage public resources amounting to BGN 156 million, and Unicredit Bulbank AD - BGN 161.3 million. The financial instrument takes the form of a portfolio guarantee with the possibility of combining it with non-repayable financial assistance in a single operation. The funds are provided under the Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises Program 2021-2027, co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.
The portfolio guarantee will be provided by FMFIB to intermediaries and will partially cover the risk of loss up to 80% on the loan to the final recipients until a 20% ceiling on losses at portfolio level is reached. The selected intermediaries should provide resources (form a credit portfolio) of over BGN 1 billion, which will be used to finance SMEs and large enterprises on favorable terms for investments aimed at achieving energy efficiency and introducing circular production models.
Along with the financing, intermediaries may provide non-repayable financial assistance in the form of technical support for the preparation of an energy audit and/or as a capital discount to repay part of the loan after the investment has been implemented and the results achieved have been reported.
