The European Investment Fund and Erste Bank Croatia have agreed a deal that they said could unlock up to €58 million in new financing for small and medium-sized businesses in Croatia.
The agreement was signed in Zagreb on Tuesday, according to the European Investment Fund (EIF), which is part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group.
The EIF said it will expand existing guarantees to Erste Bank Croatia by €29 million under the EU’s InvestEU programme, a scheme that uses public guarantees to encourage lending and investment.
The arrangement will allow Erste Bank Croatia to introduce “mini-bonds” for SMEs — a way for companies to raise money from investors that is typically simpler than issuing standard corporate bonds.
Marko Primorac, an EIB vice-president responsible for operations in Croatia, said expanding the bank’s product range with mini-bonds would allow Erste Bank Croatia to support more entrepreneurs and “unlock new investments, growth and job opportunities for citizens”.
Christoph Schoefboeck, president of the management board of Erste Bank Croatia, said the lender’s ten-year partnership with the EIF had previously introduced several guarantee instruments, and that mini-bonds would offer Croatian entrepreneurs an alternative to traditional bank financing.
EIB Group activity in Croatia
The EIB Group provided €536 million in new financing to Croatia in 2025, with more than half supporting SMEs and mid-caps — medium-sized companies larger than SMEs — the EIF said.
