New €2.6 billion financing facility opens for SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe

By: Trademagazin Date: 2026. 03. 06. 10:35

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UniCredit has launched the next phase of the “UniCredit for CEE” initiative, which will strengthen the long-term support of small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-enterprises in the Eastern and Central European region with more than 2.6 billion euros in financing solutions by the end of 2027 – UniCredit Bank informed MTI on Friday.

“UniCredit for CEE”, the banking group’s program launched in 2024, offers financing, advisory and guarantee-based solutions to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe, thereby supporting innovation, sustainability and growth.

The new chapter of the initiative builds on 35 types of guarantees provided by the European Investment Fund, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and national development programmes.

The guarantees aim to accelerate access to more favourable financing in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Tangible benefits for businesses include lower collateral requirements, more favourable pricing, dedicated advisory programmes and faster and simpler processes. The focus of “UniCredit for CEE” includes sustainability and energy efficiency, digitalization and innovation, competitiveness of local supply chains, and inclusive finance, with a special focus on women and young entrepreneurs.

Since its launch in 2024, the initiative has disbursed over EUR 2 billion in new loans through guarantee programs, supporting over 18,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Beyond the scope of “UniCredit for CEE”, UniCredit banks in the region provide a wide range of financing and business support services. Total investment in the region’s real economy last year amounted to 15 billion euros, reaching 430,000 micro and small enterprises.

According to a statement from UniCredit Bank, players in the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise sector are also being treated with special attention in Hungary. With the help of the Széchenyi Program current account, working capital and investment loans, which have been available for years, their SME customers received nearly 120 billion forints in more than 1,500 transactions last year.

The EXIM Demján Loan Program was also available to their medium-sized enterprise customers, which offers long-term, fixed-interest financing for investments in forints and euros.

The development of digitalization solutions also plays a prominent role in the initiative: in addition to the bank’s mobile banking application available to small businesses, customers can conveniently manage their banking affairs online using the digital document sharing application.

The “UniCredit for The bank will support the “CEE” initiative this year with a marketing communication campaign aimed at the domestic audience, UniCredit Bank wrote in its statement.