The President of TMEDE, Mr K.Makedos, during his speech at the 2nd Conference of the Technical Chamber of Greece entitled “Green Deal Greece 2022”, referred to the construction industry’s new and urgent needs, especially those of SMEs. More specifically, he analyzed the current financing environment, the engineers’ needs and the solutions that TMEDE provides and offers to its members.

He pointed out that flexible financing through working capital and medium and long-term loans is the primary condition for developing and modernizing the sector’s productive potential. Furthermore, total bank lending to the industry is expected to rise in the near future (€671million to €2.5 billion); therefore, initiatives and support tools are needed from the country’s financial system.

In recent years, TMEDE, responding to this need, besides being a guarantee institution has also assumed a lending role, introducing “green” criteria in financing.

 In particular, Mr Makedos referred to:

• the cooperation with the Hellenic Investment Bank in the framework of the “EAT-TMEDE Guarantee Fund”, from which beneficiaries can receive working capital, through bank loans, of up to €200,000. “We assume part of the credit risk by providing a guarantee to the banks for 80% of the financing. In the first three months alone, more than €23 million has been disbursed. The most significant part of these disbursements (35%) comes from Attica Bank, which demonstrates the catalytic role of a bank that holds only 2% of the market share in the Banking Sector and how our industry can be supported by it.”
• “TMEDE Microfinance Solutions”, a specialised microfinance company that provides working capital to new businesses and young professionals on favourable terms.
• the international best practices through TMEDE’s participation in the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM).

As shareholders and private institutional investors, we continue our effort to effectively complete the full privatization of Attica Bank together with the US investment Ellington Fund, in cooperation with the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund, which has invested for the first time in a bank on market terms. Furthermore, we have been working intensively to achieve the Bank’s full transformation and growth, creating internal capital, aiming at achieving its operational profitability, privatization and further growth. Following these strategic choices, Attica Bank will become an institution supporting the industry, the frontrunner of green investment financing.

The President of TMEDE and Attica Bank, Mr Konstantinos Makedos, went on to add:

In the framework of the expected “big bang”, a sound and specialized financial institution, such as Attica Bank, operating based on a strong banking system is of strategic importance for the construction sector and the real economy.

He concluded by noting that

all those options we offer our members and our positioning as a powerhouse of modern solutions exist because TMEDE has been enhancing its scope of activities, creating goodwill for its members. As a result, it has strengthened its credibility with tangible results, thus becoming a fundamental pillar of support for its members, especially SMEs.