The opportunity to apply for the DeLFI Guarantee Fund online on HDB's KYC platformstarted from Monday, August 28, 2023.

The platform Know your Customer (KYC) by HDB allows interested parties to express their interest with a single application and - if they are eligible - their application for funding can be made available to as many banks as they choose.

The Guarantee Fund "Development Law Financial Instrument"(DeLFI) facilitates the access of small and medium-sized enterprises to financing in order to implement their approved investment projects already included in the new Development Law N.4887/2022.

The Fund provides guarantees for loans, both medium- and long-term loans of up to 10 years and short-term loans of up to 5 years (against the grant without additional guarantees), in order to speed up the completion of investment projects that have already received an investment decision.

Guarantees from the DeLFI Guarantee Fund

DeLFI provides a guarantee of 80% per loan, while further facilitating businesses by limiting the amount of any additional coll ateral required from businesses for medium to long-term loans with a guarantee of up to 40% of the loan.

DeLFI has the the possibility of providing a guarantee for new loans of up to EUR 500 million euros, with the possibility of increasing its budget if the available resources are exhausted.

The amount of the loan ranges from 50,000 euros to 10,000,000 euros and is a function of the financing scheme of the investment included in the new Development Law.

New financial instrument

"Our goal in the new Development Law 4887/2022 is for investments to proceed quickly in order to have the maximum growth footprint in the Greek economy. In this direction, we give, for for the first time, the possibility for small and medium-sized enterprises that are included in a Development Law to secure on favourable terms, quickly and without bureaucracy the funds needed to implement their investment plans within the timeframes achieving their goals", stressed the Minister of Development, Kostas Skrekas, and added: "The innovative Know Your Customer platform and the new financial instrument through the Development Law Financial Instrument Guarantee Fund of the Hellenic Development Bank are another link in the chain of measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises by the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. We are moving forward with vision, plan and will to support businesses even more effectively as drivers for the growth of the Greek economy, the creation of new jobs and the increase of national income."

For his part, the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Nikos Papathanasis, stressed that today "the planning of the previous ones is being put into practice, that we are putting into operation the DeLFI guarantee program, maximizing the potential of the Development Law. Our government has proven to be a supporter of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship and will continue to provide all the necessary tools to promote the growth, competitiveness and extroversion of domestic businesses to increase investment and create new jobs for all."

«The Hellenic Development Bank-HDB supports the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises and supports the implementation of the investment projects of companies under the new Development Law. It is worth noting that DeLFI 's funds come from the repayments of the Entrepreneurship Fund I (EIFI I)", emphasized HDB's Managing Director, Athina Hadjipetrou. Ms Hadjipetrou also noted that: "This highlights the importance of the operation of the financial instruments as a 'revolving mechanism' of financing with a multiple positive impact on the economy, as NSRF 2007/13 resources, after having financed a significant number of businesses, are again returned to the market to support new businesses. The leverage ratio on this product is 5. At HDB, we continue to facilitate and provide impetus for the further development and strengthening of Greek entrepreneurship with speed, transparency and a high absorption rate of our programmes."