IKV, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the Ministry for EU Affairs organized a seminar entitled “Financial Instruments Under 2014-2020 EU Programmes” on 26 November 2015 in Istanbul.
The opening remarks were realised by IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, EIB Turkey Director Massimo d’Eufemia and Director for Social Regional and Innovative Policies at the Ministry for EU Affairs Kayhan Özüm. In her speech, IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas gave detailed information regarding the working areas of IKV and its contributions to the Turkey-EU process. She further added that such seminars would be helpful in a more productive use of EU programmes. EIB Turkey Director Massimo d’Eufemia thanked IKV and the Ministry for EU Affairs for organising the event and gave brief information regarding the activities of EIB in Turkey. As for Director for Social Regional and Innovative Policies at the Ministry for EU Affairs Kayhan Özüm, he stressed that many of the objectives of the Ministry for EU Affairs are parallel to those of Europe 2020 Strategy. Furthermore, Özüm explained that the overarching aim of the EU programmes is for countries to work together and the programmes have gained a new structural and innovative form.
In the first panel entitled “Overview of Debt Products”, the moderation was ensured by EIB Ankara Representative Lara Tassan Zanin. Tomasz Kozlowski from EIB made a presentation entitled “H2020-InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility”. Kozlowski explained that the EIB team is developing different programmes and he gave further details regarding programmes which are focusing on debt and capital stock. Moreover, he added that InnovFin is forming a platform which presents a broad variety of products and also told participants that Horizon 2020’s main aim is innovation. Reminding that cooperation is realised through financial instruments, Kozlowski went on to explain that a financial support of more than 8 billion euros has been allocated for the project. Moreover, he also explained that a financial assistance of up to 5 billion euros for SMEs is being provided within that framework and that all SMEs are enjoying the same rights in terms of application in that respect. He also highlighted that they have not been confronted with credit discrepancy.
Kozlowski further added that they are currently focusing on main credits and that they will focus on additional credits in the near future. Furthermore, Kozlowski added that they would like to see innovative SMEs benefit from the project and went on to explain that one of their aims is also to provide products to companies ultimately.
Following Kozlowski’s presentation, Head of International Banking Structured Finance Department at HalkBank Recep Güleç made his presentation. He stressed that the bank where he is employed is a partner of the EIB Risk Sharing Instruments and that HalkBank has signed a total of 13 agreements to this day. Additionally, he reminded that the total volume of the agreements amounts to 1.36 million euros. Reminding that the banking sector currently is more in need of Turkish Liras, he explained that they are working among themselves regarding the issue of risk management.
Following Güleç’s presentation, Gunnar Mai from the EIB gave a presentation entitled “COSME Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF)” where he explained that the programmes have been ongoing since 1998 and that they have spread across the world. Mai added that the COSME programme is focused mainly on SMEs and that it will be pursued until 2020. He reminded that the programme has been prepared regarding the individual policies of SMEs in that respect. Mai indicated that financial assistance is being provided within the framework of financial institutions when faced with losses. He further reminded the participants that there isn’t any payment in that respect and that guarantee is being provided. He also pointed out that the credits which they are supporting are being enlarged and that bank credits are also within their area of activity. Mai continued his presentation by giving information regarding successes realised by CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme). He went on to say that 73 agreements have been signed since June 2013 with 24 countries and that more than 373,000 SMEs have supported in that respect. Mai also explained that the leverage effect of credits which is being provided to SMEs is above 30.
The second panel entitled “Overview of EU Single Equity Financial Instrument was chaired by Nur Özdemir from EIF. Tomasz Kozlowski from EIF gave two presentations entitled “H2020-InnovFin SME Venture Capital” and “COSME Equity Facility for Growth (EFG)” respectively. In that context, Kozlowski gave detailed information regarding the steps taken by EIF for the issue of guarantee. Reminding that EIF is also aimed at assisting investments stemming from the private sector, Kozlowski gave information regarding the funds that they are realising within the effect of the EU programmes. Kozlowski also added that the CIP and GIF projects have had tremendous successes to this day. Giving further details regarding the GIF1 and GIF2 programmes, Kozlowski stressed that the new programme is focused on NGO companies.
Before completing his presentation, Kozlowski also presented information regarding the COSME and InnovFin SME programmes and explained the conformity criteria of these two projects. Kozlowski completed his presentation by giving some clues to the participants regarding the various ways in applying for the European Investment Fund.
The seminar was pursued through a panel entitled “Overview of Debt Products” which was chaired by Lara Tassan Zanin from EIB. The panellists were Gunnar Mai and Cristina Dumitrescu from the EIB. Director of Turkey Representative Office from Caixabank Victor Granero was also present as a guest speaker.
Gunnar Mai began by sharing the main features of the Erasmus+ Programme with the participants. Stressing that the main aim of the project which is based on the Erasmus Programme is to strengthen the knowledge of foreign languages and mobility, he also shared information regarding the rules of participation. Reminding that the programme only includes students pursuing a master’s degree, he underlined that they aim at giving such opportunities to a large number of students.
Following Gunnar Mai, Victor Granero started his presentation by giving an introduction on Caixabank which is the first partner of the EIB Group in Europe within the framework of Erasmus+. Explaining that Caixabank has 100% ownership of MicroBank which is financing the Erasmus+ Project, he also underscored that the bank is assisting a large number of NGOs and associations. Giving further details regarding the main aim of MicroBank and its activities, he affirmed that their main objective is to give credit.
Cristina Dumitrescu from EIF presented the concepts of Microfinancing and social inclusive financing to participants. She added that such financing is assisting vulnerable groups in further strengthening their social lives. Revealing information on the Technical Assistance Programme entitled JASMIN, Dumitrescu added that their main overarching aim is to facilitate micro companies’ access to financing. Explaining the concept of social enterprise within the framework of EaSI, she further gave details regarding the activities of social enterprises.
In the second part of the seminar, there were two workshops under the heading of “Access to EU Finance: In-depth Financial Instruments Presented by the EIB Group”. Following the opening remarks performed by KOSGEB Vice Chairman Ahmet Karakoç, two workshops which were ensured by Gunnar Mai and Cristina Dumitrescu and entitled “COSME Loan Guarantee Facility” and “EaSI Guarantee Financial Instrument” were realised simultaneously respectively. Mai and Dumitrescu answered the questions posed by the participants regarding the information they revealed in the morning. Following these workshops, two additional workshops provided by Tomas Kozlowski and Gunnar Mai and entitled “EU Single Equity Financial Instrument InnovFin SME Venture Capital COSME Equity for Growth” and “Erasmus+ Master Credit Guarantee Facility” were realised respectively.
The seminar was completed by a last session provided by Kozlowski and entitled “InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility”. Kozlowski gave information regarding alignment with EU regulations, convenience process and innovation.
