This ‘fi-compass Showcase 2019’ submission is a video story from Croatia about the family-owned company Termostroj, founded 30 years ago and producing electric boilers for central heating and many other purposes. The company exports mainly to technologically demanding markets for over 20 years now. With the help of the loan from the financial instrument ‘ESIF Growth and Expansion Loans’ co-financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), Termostroj could buy new equipment and build a new part of the production hall and modernise the existing one, resulting in increased capacity and improvement in the quality of its products. Nina Roglić, Director of Termostroj, says: “With help of ESIF Growth and Development Loans we have been given the opportunity to compete better in the European and world markets.” The ESIF financial instrument ‘ESIF Growth and Expansion Loans’ is being implemented by the fund of funds manager, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR), via 3 commercial banks. The video explains also the overall allocation of the loan instrument, the range of available loans, the type and sectors of potential final recipients, how the loans are being financed as well as their interest rate.

This ‘fi-compass Showcase 2019’ submission is a video story from Croatia about the family-owned printing house Denona which is active mainly in the field of soft and hard cover book printing and exists for already 27 years.

With the loan from the financial instrument ‘ESIF Growth and Expansion Loans’ co-financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), Denona was able modernise its printing department by buying new printing equipment. In addition, further departments will also be modernised and new workers hired and trained. This investment will enable the company to lower its prices as the new equipment generates savings, and to offer its clients even more competitive deadlines. Through this investment, Denona aims to also further increase the export share in its operating revenues from its clients from abroad.

Maria Denona Gorički, Head of Finance at Denona, says: “ESIF Growth and Expansion Loans are a great thing and give entrepreneurs the opportunity to make savings and invest further in their business and their employees.”The ESIF financial instrument ‘ESIF Growth and Expansion Loans’ is being implemented by the fund of funds manager, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR), via 3 commercial banks.

The video explains also the overall allocation of the loan instrument, the range of available loans, the type and sectors of potential final recipients, how the loans are being financed as well as the their interest rate.

This ‘fi-compass Showcase 2019’ submission is a video story about Pukas Surf, a small company from San Sebastián, Spain. This company received a loan under the SME Initiative in Spain. Pukas Surf is a family business manufacturing surf boards. The company exists already for 45 years and since then extended its activity to further fields such as surf courses and swim wear production. Adur Letamendia from Pukas Surf explains in this video the business vision of the company and the challenges of securing financing for a company representing a niche in the leisure sector: “We as a company need to grow, and we need to grow because we want a better workplace, we want a better product. We want better athletes, and we need to invest to achieve that.”

This ‘fi-compass Showcase 2019’ submission is a video story about SWN Moravia, a company producing staircases and railings from the Czech Republic. The company received as final recipient an interest-free loan with ten years maturity from the Energy Savings programme provided by Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank (ČMZRB), the national promotional bank of the Czech Republic. This financial instrument is co-financed with resources from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). With this loan, the company replaced boilers generating heat for the company with the aim to significantly reduce its energy consumption, lower its emissions and make its heat production process more effective. Tomáš Nekula, the CEO of SWN Moravia, explains in this video the company’s decision to apply for the loan and not a grant, and how the application process worked from the perspective of the final recipient.