Greece

The government said it would urgently promote measures designed to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a view to bolstering their competitiveness.

Citibank’s corporate credit manager in Greece, D. Anagnostopoulos, believes the bank can triple its business with SMEs.

Alpha Bank, the Greek finance group and owner of the country’s largest factor – ABC Factors – has reported a 35 per cent rise in nine-month net profits of Ђ190m, up from Ђ141m in 2002.

Euler Hermes, the French credit insurance company, has announced that it has raised its stake in its Greek joint-venture, Phoenix Credit Insurance, from 34 to 50 per cent.

The Central Union of Chambers (KEE) has said that abusive bank practices have a serious socio-economic impact, mainly through their impact on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Laiki Factoring, a subsidiary of Laiki Bank (Hellas) SA, has said its turnover in the first four months of 2004 totalled Ђ62.65 million, up Ђ24.14 million or 62.6 % compared to the same period last year.

Greek industry has prospects for dynamic growth in the post-2004 environment, mainly due to extensive restructuring, which has enabled it to overcome the crisis of recent years, the Federation of Greek Industries (SEV) said in a survey covering th

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s long-term financing arm, provided a total of Ђ1.2 billion for projects in Greece in 2003 compared to Ђ1.07 billion a year earlier, according to the deputy president of the EIB.

Greece will play a key role in the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) activity in the Balkans and the Mediterranean, according to the bank’s vice president, Gerlando Genuardi.

Thessaloniki-based Black Sea Trade & Development Bank (BSTDB), an international organisation, has granted a three year US$3 million loan to Moldova’s Agroidbank.