The European Investment Bank and Santander have signed a guarantee agreement designed to mobilise about €300 million in new lending for small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies working in Europe’s security and defence supply chain.
The financing is intended for businesses that supply technologies, components and other solutions to larger companies in the sector, including firms that need credit to invest, increase production capacity, cover working capital or develop new technologies, the EIB informed in a release on Thursday.
The deal is the second security-and-defence financing operation Santander has carried out with the EIB. The agreement was signed in Madrid.
How the scheme fits into wider EIB plans
The EIB Group said it has made strengthening the European defence and security industrial base a strategic priority and that it quadrupled its investments in the area in 2025 to more than €4 billion.
It expects to exceed €5 billion in 2026, representing 5% of its total investments.
In Spain, €500 million was allocated to this priority in 2025.
The EIB said it has also launched a pan-European intermediated financing instrument — meaning funding channelled through banks rather than lent directly — with a €3 billion lending envelope to address financing constraints for EU companies active in security and defence supply chains.
The Santander transaction forms part of that scheme, and other major European banks also benefit.
Gemma Feliciani, Director of Financial Institutions at the EIB, stated that the agreement would expand access to finance for SMEs and mid-caps in the sector.
Borja Oyarzabal, Global Head of Commercial Banking at Santander, said the deal would combine Santander’s lending capacity with a European “risk-mitigation instrument” to facilitate access to credit for eligible firms, while Alexandra Borisova, Global Head of Private Debt Mobilization at Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking, said the approach would bring together public and private capital.
