Provision of guarantees by EIB for International Trade Transactions

Aim of the Programme and benefits for businesses

This programme supports international Documentary Credits and Letters of Guarantee issued by NBG up to the amount of Euro 200 million and aims at helping Greek businesses to avoid adverse terms and increased cost associated with the use of credit tools. It provides domestic importers and exporters with solutions, as it establishes the conditions to enhance domestic production and activities in foreign markets. Thus, this programme shall substantially contribute to putting the Greek economy back on a growth path.

The cost of confirming / issuing a letter of guarantee / for issuing an IRU to cover eligible transactions through participating correspondent banks amounts to 50 – 110 bps on an annual basis.

International trade transactions are included in the EIB programme subject to the following conditions:

Eligibility Criteria

- Eligible for EIB funding are businesses that meet the following criterion:

Number of employees on a consolidated annual basis*

• less than 250 for SMEs
• 250 to 3,000 for medium-sized businesses.

*concerns independent businesses and is calculated on the basis of the number of employees as at the date the loan application is filed.

In the case of non-independent businesses, the number of employees of associated and/or affiliated companies is calculated pro rata and/or in aggregate.

- Businesses active in or transactions related to the following sectors are not eligible:

• Manufacture of any kind of weapons, ammunition, military or police equipment and equipment infrastructure, and facilities designed to constrain individual rights and liberty (i.e. prisons, detention centers of any kind) or violate human rights
• Games of chance and related equipment
• Production, processing or distribution of tobacco
• Activities involving live cattle for experimental and scientific purposes, when it is uncertain, according to the EIB, if such are compliant with the Council of Europe Convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes
• Activities that have an environmental impact that is not largely mitigated and/or compensated for
• Sectors considered socially or ethically controversial or which are forbidden by national legislation (e.g. research on human cloning)
• Purely real estate activities
• Purely financial activities, such as transactions in financial tools
• Any other sector referred to as non eligible in the list of NACE codes provided by the EIB to the confirming bank each time involved

Terms of provision of the EIB guarantee

The EIB offers its guarantee provided that trade transactions meet the following conditions:

• Trade transactions are subject to the International Chamber of Commerce rules each time applicable (UCP, URR, ISP, URDG) and/or incorporate applicable legislation
• The transaction currency is exclusively Euro or USD
• 85% of the transaction amount is less than Euro 21,250,000 (or its equivalent in USD), according to the F/X rate as at the date of the transaction's written acceptance by the confirming bank (Participation Notice)
• No term prohibiting, in any manner whatsoever, assignment of the confirming bank's rights under the eligible transaction, is included in any document related to the said transaction. In the event that such prohibition is provided for, it should be lifted, validly and for the total duration of the transaction, by all parties involved
• The confirming bank may forward transaction data to the EIB without prior consent of any party involved, including the beneficiary
• The business in not active in any non eligible sector of activities (as set out hereinabove). 

Basic Documentation

In addition to the standard documentation (such as: balance sheets, balances, periodic VAT returns, Ε1 tax form of company proprietors etc.), the following are required:

1. List of any other documents attached, completed and signed by the business
2. Information regarding staff employed by the firm:
• Photocopy of the Ε7 tax form of the previous year, or
• IKA (Social Insurance Foundation) Detailed Periodic Statements, if an E7 tax form does not exist, or
3. Solemn declaration of the Legal Representative stating that, during the year of application, the business's employees will be fewer than:
• 250 employees on an AWU (annual work units) basis (provided that the business has not submitted DPDs and is classed as an SME)
• 3,000 employees on an AWU basis  (provided that the business has not submitted DPDs and is classed as a medium-sized firm), or
• In the event that the business does not employ staff, a solemn declaration by the legal representative stating that the business does not employ staff  
4. Shareholder/corporate structure data, depending on company type:
• for SAs and limited liability companies
• copy of the pages of the Book of Proprietors/Shareholders indicating the current Corporate/Shareholder structure as at the date the application is filed or, alternatively, the minutes of the most recent General Meeting of Shareholders, including the names of Shareholders who attended and the proportion of shares or ownership they have in the company.
• for limited and unlimited partnerships etc.
• the firm's articles of association and any amendments thereto or any codification thereof with all the company changes
5. Declaration stating the company's type
6. Documentation of any businesses associated with or affiliated to the applicant firm (Ε7 tax form, shareholder register/articles of association).

Contact us

For further information and support you can call NBG's Global Transaction Services Division (on business days 08:00-14: 00) at + 30 210 35 78 441 and +30 210 35 78 430.