€6m investment plan to help cultural and creative SMEs in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland

Submitted by Lee Gibson on 16 October 2020

More financial support will be available for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the cultural and creative sectors in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland as a result of a new finance deal.

A €6 million guarantee from the European Investment Fund (EIF) to Estonian lender Finora Capital, means businesses in the four countries will have access to more affordable loans.

The deal has been brokered under both the Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee Facility (CCS), a guarantee scheme managed by the EIF on behalf of the European Commission, and the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), as part of the Investment Plan for Europe. This is the first CCS supported operation in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. 

The EIF guarantees will allow Finora, a fully digital, alternative finance providing company to develop a new product matching the specific needs of SMEs in cultural and creative sectors, develop competencies in financing the cultural and creative sectors and expand into new markets.

Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, said: “This support to cultural and creative companies in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland is a great initiative, part of our joint efforts to offer concrete, quick and direct relief to small businesses and individual actors in the cultural and creative sector that have been severely affected by the coronavirus crisis.

"Now more than ever European SMEs and creators need support across Europe. I am very happy our financial tool is helping them to weather the crisis, power their creativity, and preserve Europe's rich and diverse cultural scene.”

Alain Godard, Chief Executive of the EIF, said: “Cultural and creative sectors are an important driver of European social and economic development. The European Investment Fund is happy to support Lithuanian, Estonian, Latvian, and Finnish SMEs in these sectors to develop and grow.”

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