Announcement of Romania Private Farmer and Enterprise Support Project on June 15, 1992

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 92/94 Contact: Peter Riddleberger Tel: (202) 473-1786 ROMANIA: PRIVATE FARMER AND ENTERPRISE SUPPORT PROJECT The following is information on a project approved by the World Bank's Board. DATE: June 15, 1992 WORLD BANK GROUP SUPPORT: World Bank loan: $100 million. The World Bank loan is for 17 years, including five years of grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.73 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. TOTAL COST: $164.7 million OTHER FINANCING: Financial intermediaries, $20 million; Subborrowers, $44.7 million IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Ministry of Economics and Finance ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1998 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The objective of the Private Farmer and Enterprise Support Project is to support private sector development in rural areas, thereby raising agricultural output, increasing efficiency of production, and generating employment and improving standards of living. The project will achieve this through financing credit to private farmers and other private businesses for: (a) on-farm investment to increase production; and (b) the establishment and expansion of private rural small and medium enterprises to improve input supply and marketing services and increase business activity. The project will provide credit to be onlent through financial intermediaries to support investments in: (a) agricultural production, particularly small- and medium-scale investments, to increase value-added in the rural areas; (b) marketing and trade of agricultural products, especially for transport, wholesaling, and retailing of both agricultural outputs and inputs, including trucks, cold storage and freezer facilities, holding and handling equipment, shop fitting, and other facilities for food and agricultural product retail- ing; (c) other rural businesses, such as transport, agro-tourism, and other activities or services that contribute to the development of private initia- tive in rural areas; and (d) agricultural production covering a wide range of products, excluding those in ineligible subsectors predetermined as unlikely to be economically viable.