AfE 2024
Banking small and medium-sized companies across central and eastern Europe has become intensely competitive for the regional banks. Even amid the anaemic economic growth of last year, competition to grow the SME client base remained high as banks sought to expand their market share and boost assets.
Raiffeisen Bank International stood out last year, delivering strong growth in the business across multiple markets and offering solid support to SME clients, especially in Ukraine, in key areas such as financing, digital solutions and sustainability.
Raiffeisen’s SME banking business not only provided substantial financing to the engines of many of the region’s economies but also supported companies with services, products and advice to enable them to grow.
This was particularly evident in Ukraine, where Raiffeisen last year banked more than 25,000 new business banking customers – small and micro businesses – providing some Hrn4.1 billion ($101 million) in loans, including Hrn205 million to agricultural businesses.