Wolf Theiss advises European Investment Bank on the provision of a guarantee to Unicredit Bulbank Bulgaria

Wolf Theiss advised the European Investment Bank on the Bulgarian law aspects related to the provision of a guarantee to UniCredit Bulbank Bulgaria.

Wolf Theiss has advised the European Investment Bank on the Bulgarian law aspects related to the provision of a guarantee to UniCredit Bulbank Bulgaria of approximately €60 million for the provision of new loans to support Bulgarian small and medium enterprises in overcoming the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wolf Theiss team included Katerina Kraeva (Partner, Sofia) and Jasmina Uzova (Senior Associate, Sofia).

The operation is backed by the European Guarantee Fund (EGF) and was set up by the EIB Group with contributions from Bulgaria and other EU Member States. It is part of the European Union’s €540 billion COVID-19 recovery package approved in 2020, which is expected to support parts of the EU economy that have been most vulnerable to the pandemic. As announced by the EIB, the goal of the EGF is to ensure that SMEs with sustainable business plans can achieve the liquidity needed to overcome COVID-19 related challenges, and that healthy businesses can get the support they need in order to grow.