work: The Greek success story! DIFASS Project (Interreg IVC) – International Conference “Access to finance for SME’s – Innovative tools for entrepreneurship support” Get business done!

This is TREK Consulting Consultancy and Professional Services firm, providing Management and Information Technology services to small, medium and large Organizations all across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.  19 years of experience in E.U. funded initiatives  more than subsidized funded projects  More than 4 billion € projects under TREK supervision  Pioneer in Financial Instruments  Proffered partner of European Investment Bank in S.E.E. 9/9/20142

FACTS:  97% are SMEs in E.U. - 98% in Greece  9/10 of SMEs are micro*  90% of E.U. firms are micro - 97% in Greece * micro: < 10 employees & < 2M € small: < 50 » & <10M € medium <250 » & <50M € 9/9/20143

Facts:  99% of E.U. start-ups are micro firms  Micro-enterprises provide 50% of jobs in Greece (30% in E.U.)  Value added contribution from SMEs dropped by 35% in Greece!  Employment by SMEs dropped by +35% in Greece! 9/9/20144

The Case: 9/9/2014 Greece, September 2014 The Greek SME tragedy whilst struggling for financing TRY THIS: Apply for a loan, or a guarantee from a systemic Bank YOY GET: Rejection, no questions asked! or best case a 10% interest rate! Remember: ECB rate is 0,05% ! 5

The Case: …so here come the questions:  How to get financing as a micro – small firm?  How to overcome low “bankability”?  How to overcome bureaucracy from the “Athenian” Government?  How to pay much less interest rate than the 10% ? 9/9/20146

The solution: E.U. and EiB join together for the microfinance instrument Senior loans even to “non bankable” up to € Very low interest rates, grace period and other perks! TO WHOM: Micro, small enterprises, entrepreneurs of all major industries, even start-upers, vulnerary groups and unemployed ! 9/9/20147

HOW IT WORKS: 9/9/20148

How it works: Is this really working?YES! 9/9/20149

The Greek experience: PART A! TREK designed and executed a 6m€ loan fund Intermediary: CB of Peloponnese Focus on: Tourism & exporting agro-products Interest rate: ~ 2,8% ( with the highest country risk, back in 2013 ) Benefits: 350 small Peloponnese companies/family businesses > 2,000 employees 9/9/201410

The Greek experience: PART B! TREK designed and executed a 4,5m€ loan fund Intermediary: CB of Karditsa Focus on: contractual & exporting agro-products Interest rate: ~ 2,0% Benefits: 300 small Peloponnese companies/family businesses > 1,500 employees 9/9/201411

Who’s next?..so, what’s for Western Macedonia? 9/9/201412

a good to happen proposition: Initiation of the W.M. Regional Financial Instrument (the WM fund) Lead by: the Region of W.M. Mobilize: Revolving funds & Private contribution ( i.e. financial Institutions ) Est. size: 15 m€ Benefit: More than 750 SMEs employees More than households Promote and support the exporting agro-industry & contractual agriculture 9/9/201413

That’s all Thank you! Dinos Papapolyzos 9/9/201414

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