The lending scheme, worth eight billion kuna, was devised by the HBOR in cooperation with the government, the Croatian National Bank and commercial banks.
HBOR Management Board chair Anton Kovacev told reporters the scheme was intended primarily for business people having problems with working capital.
The scheme refers to business owners whose businesses are at least 25% privately owned and who earn at least 10 percent of their revenues on international markets. The loans granted under this scheme are intended for the payment of financial obligations towards creditors, and up to 30 percent of the loan amount may be used to pay obligations to financial institutions.
Commercial banks will bid for HBOR's lending quotas at auctions and their bids will be ranked according to the interest rates offered, said Kovacev.
Loans will be granted with a repayment period of up to three years, including a year-long grace.
The new lending scheme is intended for business owners in agriculture, processing industry, tourism, and projects involving renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.
Commenting on the lending scheme, Finance Minister and HBOR Supervisory Board chair Slavko Linic said it would make it possible for business owners to obtain working capital under favourable interest rates and significantly less strict credit insurance conditions.
Entrepreneurship and Crafts Minister Gordan Maras said work was under way on a lending scheme in which business owners would not have to mortgage their property for loans in the amount of up to 25,000 euros, and in which promissory notes would be the only credit insurance instrument.
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.5)