Albanian agribusiness to receive financial support from European bank

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will launch financial support for agribusiness in Albania in July, an official declared on Friday.

"The EBRD, in cooperation with commercial banks at the end of July, will launch the project of financial support to Albanian agribusiness," Christoph Denk, head of the EBRD office in Albania, was quoted by the Albanian Daily News as saying.

He said the development of agribusiness in Albania is a potential sector with great growth opportunities in economy.

"One of the sectors that we estimate has great potentials to develop is agribusiness, and we think that we should support all relevant networks in this sector, ranging from production, processing, and distribution up to sales," said the EBRD representative in Albania.

The EBRD is working with the Albanian government to facilitate access to financing for companies operating in the agribusiness sector, Denk added.

The project will not only include the EBRD contribution of 100 million euros and further funding from financial partners, but also benefit risk coverage for first losses funded by the government, he said.

Agriculture is a key sector in Albania. It provides employment for half of the population in rural areas and accounts for around 20 percent of the country's GDP.

However, this sector remains financially underserved with loans to agribusiness accounting for only 2 percent of total lending to the economy. Endi