18. Greece

Key facts on SME financing

99.9% (almost 100%) of Greek enterprises are SMEs, and the majority of SMEs are micro-enterprises. On average, micro-enterprises contribute more to employment and add more value in Greece than in other European countries.

The financial crisis and the ensuing sovereign debt crisis has had a profound impact on the Greek economy since 2010.

Bank funding dried up for Greek SMEs in the aftermath of the financial crisis. In 2009, new lending shrank more than a tenfold from 2007 and 2008 levels. Although lending to SMEs recovered somewhat in 2010, data show a clear downward path in SME lending over the 2011-16 period. In 2016, new loans to SMEs more than halved compared to 2014. In 2017, however, SME lending slightly increased, following a 7-year period of consistent decline. The same trend further continued in 2018. Nevertheless, SME lending volumes were still far below their 2008-09 levels.

The SME interest rate has decreased in recent years, but remains much higher compared to other Eurozone economies, illustrating that the accommodative stance of the European Central Bank (ECB) has had relatively little impact on Greek SMEs. The interest rate spread between SMEs and large firms remained stable in 2017 compared to 2016 but increased in 2018, as the reduction of large firms’ interest rate was higher than the reduction of SME interest rates during this period (2014-2018).

Leasing and hire purchases also decreased severely as a result of the economic crisis and remained well below pre-crisis levels in 2017. By contrast, factoring and invoice discounting activities have remained relatively stable over 2008-17. They increased strongly in 2018, following a more moderate increase over 2014-2017.

The Greek government operates a number of loan guarantee programmes. These programmes gained pace between 2010 and 2011, but the sovereign debt crisis prevented Greece from continuing such support in 2012. As a result, loan guarantees declined 50% that year, and have continued to decline ever since. The Greek government announced various actions in 2017, such as the establishment of the Intermediate Entrepreneurship Fund and the Western Macedonian’s Regional Development Fund. These funds complement The Entrepreneurship Fund II and The Energy Saving Fund II established in 2016 and started to provide loans in 2018. Both finds use European Structural Investment Funds and national financial sources, as well as programmes for the provision of short-term and long-term export credit insurance to SMEs.

The government also supports equity financing through minority participation in venture capital funds, venture capital companies, and similar vehicles. Additionally, the Greek Government, with the cooperation of the European Investment Fund, announced the launch of EquiFund in 2016, a private equity fund since 2018 invests in high value-added and innovative early and growth stage companies.

Furthermore, various legislative tools continue to be used by the Government with the cooperation of the Central Bank of Greece to address the serious increase of non-performing loans (NPLs) among Greek SMEs.

In 2019 and according to Law 4608/2019, the Greek government established the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), which took place through the transformation and administrative capacity building of two existing entities, the Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development S.A. (ETEAN S.A.) and its subsidiary, the New Economy Development Fund S.A. (TANEO SA). HDB’s scope is to improve SMEs’ access to finance, to foster innovation, to facilitate investments in infrastructure, to encourage equity investments and other alternative financing sources and to provide business support to SMEs, mainly through shared-risk loans and guarantee facilities, as well as financial expertise to the public sector. The first phase of transformation was completed in April 2019, with the adoption of the new legal framework (Law 4608/2019). The second phase is estimated to be completed by the end of 2019. HDB will deploy a list of new products by using both public and private funds for the support of SMEs within the next five years. HDB will target projects that will have an impact on sustainable growth, regional development, job creation and investments, while at the same time being financially autonomous and sustainable.

Table 18.1. Scoreboard for Greece
Indicator	Unit	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Debt
Outstanding business loans, SMEs	EUR billion	..	..	..	44.9	41.6	39.1	48.1	48.1	46.9	48.4	44.7	41.1
Outstanding business loans, total	EUR billion	102	124	124	117	113	101	97	95	89	88	82	76.4
Share of SME outstanding loans	% of total outstanding business loans	..	..	..	38.5	36.8	38.8	49.7	50.6	52.6	55.3	54.4	53.8
New business lending, total	EUR billion	..	36.5	36.3	20.7	29.4	21.8	24.3	14.9	6.9	5.8	7.3	11.4
New business lending, SMEs	EUR billion	..	12.5	13.0	4.4	5.2	4.1	3.7	2.3	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.2
Share of new SME lending	% of total new lending	..	34.2	35.6	21.4	17.8	18.9	15.0	15.6	17.0	18.4	15.5	10.18
Outstanding short-term loans, SMEs	EUR billion	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	18.1	17.6	18.8	17.0	15.1
Outstanding long-term loans, SMEs	EUR billion	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	30.1	29.3	29.6	27.7	25.9
Share of short-term SME lending	% of total SME lending	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	37.6	37.6	38.9	38.0	58.4
Government loan guarantees, SMEs	EUR billion	..	..	..	..	..	..	0.37	0.31	0.24	0.56	1.08	1.2
Non-performing loans, total	% of all business loans	4.60	4.30	6.70	8.70	14.2	23.4	31.8	29.4	31.0	30.3	30.5	32.5
Non-performing loans, SMEs	% of all SME loans	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	41.2	44.1	43.2	..	..
Interest rate, SMEs	%	6.57	6.82	4.62	5.53	6.77	6.87	6.51	5.80	5.38	5.32	4.91	4.64
Interest rate, large firms	%	5.32	5.71	3.52	4.27	5.74	5.92	5.77	5.55	4.82	4.61	4.20	3.81
Interest rate spread	% points	1.25	1.11	1.10	1.26	1.03	0.95	0.74	0.25	0.56	0.71	0.71	0.83
Collateral, SMEs	% of SMEs needing collateral to obtain bank lending	..	..	51.4	40.5	49.4	46.7	45.9	46.2	49.2	39.8	25.7	20.7
Percentage of SME loan applications	SME loan applications/ total number of SMEs	..	..	37.9	39.6	30.8	29.9	21.4	25.5	18.8	21.5	17.5	23.0
Rejection rate	1-(SME loans authorised/ requested)	..	..	25.8	24.5	33.8	28.3	26.0	21.5	19.9	18.2	16.2	20.5
Utilisation rate	SME loans used/ authorised	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Non-bank finance
Venture and growth capital	EUR million	19.0	32.7	16.7	25.0	10.1	..	4.8	12.6	36.8	38.0	44.5	83.2
Venture and growth capital (growth rate)	%, Year-on-year growth rate	..	72	-49	50	-60	..	..	160	193	3	17	86.9
Leasing and hire purchases	EUR billion	7.28	7.87	7.50	7.28	6.85	6.22	3.36	4.08	4.72	4.40	4.25	3.96
Factoring and invoice discounting	EUR billion	1.28	1.73	1.77	1.73	1.49	1.53	1.41	1.69	1.69	1.72	1.74	1.93
Other indicators
Payment delays, B2B	Number of days	..	25	34	30	35	40	43	41	36	47	47.	33
Bankruptcies, SMEs	Number	513	359	355	355	445	415	392	330	189	108	123	114
Bankruptcies, SMEs (growth rate)	%, Year-on-year growth rate	..	-30	-1	0	25	-7	-6	-16	-43	-43	14	-7
Source: See Table 18.6.

SMEs in the national economy

829 677 enterprises, almost 100% of all Greek enterprises, are defined as SMEs, according to data from the European Commission. 97.3% of Greek businesses (807 666) are micro-enterprises employing less than 10 employees, 2.4% (19 662) are small enterprises, 0.3% (2 349) are medium-sized enterprises, and almost 0.0% (376) are large enterprises. More than half of the workforce, or 57.1%, is employed by micro-enterprises and 85.2% of the workforce is employed by SMEs. Micro-enterprises and SMEs account for 22.7% and 63.6% of the value added in the economy, respectively. Compared to the EU-28 average, SMEs and especially micro-enterprises are more numerous and more important to the Greek economy (see Table 18.2).1

Table 18.2. Distribution of firms in Greece, 2018
By firm size
% Share	Number of enterprises		Number of employees		Value added
Greece	EU-28	Greece	EU-28	Greece	EU-28
Micro	97.3	93.1	57.1	29.4	22.7	20.7
Small	2.4	5.8	17.2	20.0	19.0	17.8
Medium	0.3	0.9	11.0	17.0	21.9	18.3
SMEs	100	99.8	85.2	66.4	63.6	56.8
Large	0.0	0.2	14.8	33.6	3648	43.2
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100
Source: European Commission’s SBA Fact Sheet 2018.

SMEs in Greece are defined according to the European Commission’s Recommendation 2003/361/European Parliament, Annex, Article 2 “Staff headcount and financial ceilings determining enterprise categories”, as follows:

SMEs are companies with at most 250 employees, annual turnovers not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.

SME lending

The financial crisis and the ensuing sovereign debt crisis had a profound impact on the Greek economy. Real GDP contracted by 26% between 2008 and 2015. In 2018 GDP expanded by 1.9%, the fastest GDP growth rate since the onset of the crisis, and grew for a six consecutive semesters. During the first quarter of 2019, GDP continued to expand by 1.3% year on year. Unemployment rose from 7.8% in 2008 to a peak of 27.5% in 2013, but decreased to 23.5% in 2016, 21.5% in 2017, 19.6% in 2018 and 19.2% during the first semester of 2019 (according to Bank of Greece’s Monetary Policy Report, July 2019).

New business lending to SMEs contracted severely as a result of the financial crisis. In 2008 and 2009, banks lent over EUR 12 billion to Greek SMEs. This figure decreased by 91.8% cumulatively from 2009 to 2016. In 2018, financial institutions in Greece lent EUR 1.16 billion to SMEs, a slight increase from 2017, when it aw increase 6% compared to 2016. New business lending for all enterprises followed a similar trajectory, decreasing by 84.2% from EUR 36.5 billion in 2008 to EUR 7.3 billion in 2017 followed by an increase to 11.4 EUR billion in 2018, almost the double of 2016 figures.

For the eighth year in a row, outstanding credit to all businesses continue to fall in 2019 to EUR 76.4 billion. After a slight fall in 2015, the stock of SME loans in 2016 increased to EUR 48.1 billion, but again declined to EUR 44.7 billion in 2017 and EUR 41 billion in 2018.

The continual decline of SME credit lending coincides with a moderate economic recovery since 2014. 2014 marked the return of economic activity to positive growth rates (+0.8% year on year for Q12014) after six consecutive years of deep recession. Investments, strong absorption of EU structural funds, tourism and exports contributed to Greece’s year-on-year economic growth, as well as higher exports of goods and services and higher private consumption. GDP is forecasted to grow by 2.3% in 2019.

Greece’s primary balance (including bank recapitalisation) swung from a deficit of 2.4% of GDP in 2015, to a surplus of 3.5% of GDP in 2016, the first surplus in 44 years. This fiscal consolidation effort has been unprecedented, totalling 13 percentage points of GDP between 2009 and 2016. Over the same period, nominal GDP fell more than 25% and the IMF and EU programmes helped to close the external financing gap created by this decline in production. In 2017, Greece’s primary surplus was above 3.5% of GDP, outperforming its target of 1.75% of GDP. The same trend continued in 2018 when primary surplus increased to 4.4% of GDP. The fiscal over-achievement of 2015-18 may have boosted confidence, mitigating the contractionary effects of fiscal consolidation. As a result of its fiscal performance and expected further improvements, Greece exited the EU Excessive Deficit Procedure in 2017 and in 2018 Greece successfully fulfilled its obligations under the 2015 funding agreement.

The Greek government’s efforts to regain fiscal credibility are bearing their fruits. Major credit rating agencies have upgraded Greece’s sovereign rating, which remains below investment grade, but is nonetheless on a positive trend. In July 2017, Greece returned to the debt market for the first time in 3 years. In November 2017, the government successfully completed a swap of private-sector involvement (PSI) bonds issued in 2012 for five new issues with maturities ranging from 5 to 25 years. Specifically, in February and March 2019, a 5-year and 10-year Treasury Bond (GGB) were issued, through which EUR 5 billion were emitted, while their annual coupons were 3.45% and 3.875%, respectively. In both versions the participation of foreign investors was particularly high. In addition, during the same period, the Greek Government continued to issue 3, 6 and 12-month Treasury bills, drawing EUR 13.9 billion Government bond yields have declined over the past two years, narrowing the gap with European peers, despite the fact that the ECB has not yet included Greece in its asset purchase programme. In June 2019, the 10-year government bond yield fell to 2.85% (reaching a 13-year low) and the 3-year yield reached declined to 1.3%. The 10-year Greek government bond yield is currently above Ireland’s (3.5%) and Portugal’s (3.7%) when they exited their EU programmes (in late 2013 and mid-2014, respectively).

Credit conditions

Interest rates for both SMEs and large firms fell for the sixth year in a row in 2018, reaching 4.6% and 3.8% respectively, but the spread between the two increased (0.83) compared to 0.71 in 2017. This spread decreased between 2010 and 2014, but rose to 0.56 percentage points in 2015, remained stable to 0.71 percentage points in 2016 and 2017 and increased again in 2018,. It remains low by international standards.

Credit conditions tightened significantly as a result of the financial crisis and access to finance continues to be a central problem for Greek SMEs, according to the most recent ECB survey (Analytical Report, April 2019), with 17% of Greek SMEs citing access to finance as the most important problem they currently face, compared to an EU28 average of 7%. Greece still reports the highest external financing gap in the Eurozone (which measures the perceived difference at various firm levels between the need for external funds across all channels, i.e. bank loans, bank overdrafts, trade credit, equity and debt securities, and the availability of funds). According to SAFE report bank loans remain the relevant form of external financing for 48% of Greek SMEs compared to 47% at EU level.

Furthermore, the proportion of SMEs reporting fear of application rejections declined from 26% in 2017 to 16% in 2018 but still remains high compared to EU (5%). According to the European Commission’s report SME access to finance conditions 2018 SAFE results – Greece, 15% of bank loans applications were rejected compared to 5% at EU level, while 20% of SMEs who successfully applied received less than they applied for compared to 11% at EU level.2% reported that they declined the loan offer from the bank as they found the cost unacceptable (EU: 1%). Subsequently, 37% of Greek SMEs did not manage to get the full bank loan they applied for during 2018 compared to 18% at EU level. On the other hand, 40% of SMEs received the total amount of financing they applied for.

The proportion of Greek SMEs that required collateral when they applied for a loan to a bank decreased to 20.7% in 2018 compared to 25.7% in 2017. The rejection rate has declined since 2011, when it reached 33.8%, to 18.2% in 2016 and 16.16% in 2017.

Alternative sources of SME financing

The total outstanding amount of financing from leasing companies reached its peak in 2008 and, at EUR 7.8 billion, was an important source of financing for Greek enterprises. Between 2008 and 2013 though, financing from leasing companies halved to EUR 3.4 billion. In 2014 and 2015, leasing and hire purchase activities picked up, but decreased to EUR 4.2 billion in 2017 and to EUR 3.9 billion in 2018, remaining well below pre-crisis levels.

The total outstanding amount of loans from factoring companies to all companies increased to EUR 1.8 billion in 2009, before decreasing by 20.2% between 2009 and 2013. Factoring activities recovered since 2014, and reached EUR 1.9 billion in 2018, an 11% increase compared to 2017.

Venture capital and growth capital investments totalled EUR 32.7 million in 2008, but decreased tremendously until 2012, when no venture and growth investments took place. Investments slightly recovered in 2013, reaching EUR 4.8 million. In 2015, the index reached EUR 12.6 million, and since then rose rapidly to EUR 44.5 million in 2017, a 20.6% increase from 2008. The increase trend continued in 2018 when venture and growth capital reached the amount of EUR 83.3 million.

Other indicators

Bankruptcies for all businesses declined by 30.2% in 2008 compared to 2007, remaining more or less stable in 2009 and 2010. Between 2010 and 2011, bankruptcies surged by 25.4%, reaching a peak in 2011. In 2012, the trend reversed with a 6.7% decline in the total number of bankruptcies and has continued to fall in 2015 and 2016 (by more than 40%), but they increased by 13.9% in 2017. In 2018, bankruptcies fell to 114 (data from the Hellenic Statistics Authority).

Credit to the private sector accounted for 35% of GDP in 2000 and rose to more than 100% of GDP in 2008, buoyed by low-interest rates, favourable financing conditions and a relatively fast growing economy (OECD, 2016). Credits proved hard to repay during the deep recession that followed, and Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) increased rapidly as a result. It is noteworthy that on 2007, 4.6% of all business loans were non-performing, that is, 90 days overdue or exposed to companies with negative net worth. In 2010, this percentage had reached 14.1%, and rose to 30.3% in 2016. SME-specific data on NPLs have been available since 2014, when 41.2% of loans to SMEs were classified as NPLs, increasing to 44.1% in 2015, but diminished to 43.2% in 2016. Due to changes in calculation/classification standards, the percentage of non-performing SME loans fell to 30.5% in 2017 followed by an increase up to 32.5% in 2018.

In 2018, almost one third of all business loans were non-performing in Greece, which was much higher than in other OECD countries. The percentage of non-performing loans (NPLs) for SMEs is also higher, reaching 38.1% in 2018. It has decreased slightly since 2015, when it reached 44.1%. In any case, the prevalence of NPLs seriously impeded the recovery of the financial sector and of the Greek economy.

B2B payment delays of Greek SMEs decreased to 33 days in 2018 compared to 47 days in 2017 and 2016.

Government policy response

Direct loans

Several financial instruments with funding from EU structural funds are available to support lending to SMEs in Greece. The Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development S.A. (ETEAN A.E.) was created as a wholly owned state corporation in February 2011, with start-up capital of EUR 1.7 billion. It manages and implements projects financed via the state budget, public investment programmes, and the EU’s Agricultural and Fisheries Funds.

The government, through the Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development S.A., co-finances direct loans to SMEs for investment and working capital purposes. Some of these direct loans target young entrepreneurs, export-oriented SMEs or specific sectors (tourism, desalination and waste management, innovation, etc.). The government typically co-finances the loan up to 50% of its value, but some sectoral loans were 33% co-financed.

In 2019 and according to Law 4608/2019, the Greek Government established the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), which took place through the transformation and administrative capacity building of two existing entities, the Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development S.A. (ETEAN S.A.) and its subsidiary, the New Economy Development Fund S.A. (TANEO SA). HDB’s scope is to improve SMEs’ access to finance, to foster innovation, to facilitate investments in infrastructure, to encourage equity investments and other alternative financing sources and to provide business support to SMEs, mainly through shared-risk loans and guarantee facilities, as well as financial expertise to the public sector. The first phase of transformation completed in April 2019, with the adoption of the new legal framework (Law 4608/2019). The second phase is estimated to be completed by the end of 2019. HDB will deploy a list of new products by using both public and private funds for the support of SMEs within the next five years. HDB will target projects that will have an impact on sustainable growth, regional development, job creation and investments, while at the same time being financially autonomous and sustainable.

During the 2007-13 EU programming period, The Entrepreneurship Fund provided low-cost loans to SMEs through co-funding schemes with commercial banks that were established after an open tender procedure. The Fund ran programmes to cover various SMEs in different sectors, providing funds for the implementation of business plans and the provision of working capital for development purposes. Specifically, the Entrepreneurship Fund introduced co-funding schemes as illustrated in Table 18.3.

Table 18.3. Entrepreneurship Fund in Greece, 2011-18
Component/ beneficiary	Period	Max. loan amount	Interest rate	Loan duration Beneficiaries	Beneficiaries	Uptake
		EUR	%	Years	Deadline	Number
Island Entrepreneurship	2013-17*	30 000	0.0-2.8**	4	30 January 2017	1 537
Exceptional Measure to support SMEs in Kefalonia and Ithaki islands from the January 2014 earthquake ***	2014	19 950	0.0	4-10	30 June 2014	537
Extroversion	2011-16	500 000	3.2	5-10	31 July 2015	223
Thematic Tourism, Desalination, Waste Management, Green Infrastructure, Green Applications, Renewable Energy Sources	2011-13	500 000	3.7	5-10	30 September 2013	371
Business Restarting: investment	2013-17*	800 000	0% I.R. offered by ETEAN SA and I.R. offered by participating Bank	5-12	30 January 2017	4 550
Business Restarting: working capital	2013-17*	300 000		4	30 January 2017
Intermediate Entrepreneurship Fund (working capital)	2017-18	800.000	0% I.R. offered by ETEAN SA and I.R. offered by participating Bank	4	-	2 005****
Note: *Data leading up to 25-5-2017. ** 0% if island’s population is less than 3.100 people. *** Loans Financed by the Island Entrepreneurship Fund. Number and uptake of beneficiaries are parts of number and uptake of beneficiaries of the Island Entrepreneurship Fund. *** Data up to 15-5-2019.
Source: www.etean.com.gr

Furthermore, during the 2007-13 EU programming period, ETEAN established the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Fund, a programme co-financed by the EU’s Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Greek Government, for a total of EUR 253 million. The fund aims to support business plans in the agricultural sector. By May 2016, 144 SMEs benefited from loans totalling EUR 8.6 million, with durations of 5-10 years and interest rates ranging between 3.8% and 4.2%.

In December 2016, the Greek government established the following funds to improve SMEs’ access to finance, combining national budget, the private sector and the ERDF’s funds:

• The Entrepreneurship Fund II, providing low cost loans to SMEs aimed at the establishment of new, innovative, export-oriented and dynamic enterprises, the development of existing businesses through their technological and organisational modernisation and innovations, the enhancement of Greek SME’s extroversion, and the enhancement of businesses and organisations active in the social economy. The Entrepreneurship Fund II began its operations during the 2nd semester of 2018 when the launch of its first programme “Entrepreneurial Financing” was published calling banks to participate in a co-investment scheme with equity proportion 60% (banks) – 40% (Entrepreneurship Fund II) for the provision of working capital loans to SMEs of for development reasons. Funding agreements with banks signed in March 2019 and since then SMEs can apply for a bank loan according to the rules of the programme.

• The Energy Saving Fund II, aiming to improve energy efficiency, support upgrade of housing and the use renewable energy sources and intelligent energy management for the benefit of the environment. It indirectly helps SMEs involved in related industries. The fund, in cooperation with interested banks, will provide low-interest loans, guarantees, interest rate subsidies or other incentive schemes to the final recipients (households, enterprises). Aid is delivered to beneficiaries either through grants or grants coupled with interest-free or low-interest loans. During 2018 the first launch of the Energy Fund II was made public, followed by an evaluation period for the applications received.

Loan guarantees

The government operates a number of loan guarantee programmes. These programmes grew significantly between 2010 and 2011, but were discontinued for the most part in 2012 as a result of the sovereign debt crisis, during which time loan guarantees declined by 50% (see Table 18.4).

The maximum guarantee rate for these programmes is 80%. The main purpose of the guarantees is to provide liquidity to SMEs rather than to allow them to expand. The uptake for these programmes has been higher than it has been for direct loans. The default rate on loans covered by government guarantees is between 12- 23%.

Letters of guarantees, financed by the government’s expertise institution (ETEAN), aim to guarantee a portfolio (bid bonds, advance payment bonds, performance bonds, payment bonds, withheld amount bonds) issued by banks in favour of small and very small enterprises. By May 2015, approximately EUR 7.5 million had been guaranteed to cover the financial needs of 173 SMEs.

In June 2019 a new Credit Guarantee Scheme for Audiovisual Production Producers was established by the Hellenic Development Bank SA (formerly ETEAN SA). The programme aims to strengthen the liquidity of the country's companies operating in the audiovisual production sector, including videogames. The purpose of the programme is to provide a guarantee of 80% on the loan, for loans, investment purposes, or business development. The specific objectives of the Program are: (a) to improve the accessibility of the SMEs to eligible sectors, to meet working capital needs and to facilitate medium-term investments; (b) to reduce, as much as possible the borrowing costs of SMEs, (c) to facilitate the repayment of loans by providing favourable repayment terms (grace period and loan repayment period).

Table 18.4. Loan guarantee programmes in Greece, 2008-17
Programme	Period	Loan type	Max. loan amount (EUR)	Interest rate	Duration (years)	Beneficiaries (number)
Tempme*	2008-09	Working capital	350 000	6M EURIBOR +210 bp	3	27 069
Tempme*	2009-10	Working capital	125 000	6M EURIBOR +210 bp	3	30 307
Raw materials, goods, services	2010-12	Working capital	300 000	6M EURIBOR +600 bp	6	1 777
Tax & insurance claims	2010	Working capital	100 000	6M EURIBOR +600 bp	6	262
Guarantee Fund of Entrepreneurship Fund	2013-17	Investment loans and working capital loans	800	..	2-10	1 224
Letters of guarantee**	2012-14	Bank bonds	150 000	..	720 days	173
Note: * TEMPME programme guarantees working capital loans for SMEs with at least three years of operation. ** The Letters of guarantee programme guarantees a portfolio of letters of guarantees which includes bid bonds, advance payment bonds, performance bonds, payment bonds and withheld amount bonds issued by the banks in favour of SMEs. *** The interest rate is expressed according to the Euribor programme guide-call. Figures are represented in basis points, (for example 210 means 2.10%).
Source: http://www.etean.com.gr/PublicPages/PastPrograms.aspx.

In June 2019 a new Credit Guarantee Scheme for Audiovisual Production Producers was established by the Hellenic Development Bank SA (formerly ETEAN SA). The programme aims to strengthen the liquidity of the country's companies operating in the audiovisual production sector, including videogames. The purpose of the programme is to provide a guarantee of 80% on the loan, for loans, investment purposes, or business development. The specific objectives of the Program are: (a) to improve the accessibility of the SMEs to eligible sectors, to meet working capital needs and to facilitate medium-term investments; (b) to reduce, as much as possible the borrowing costs of SMEs, (c) to facilitate the repayment of loans by providing favourable repayment terms (grace period and loan repayment period).

Eligible companies are listed companies (newly registered and existing micro, small and medium enterprises) of any legal form, which operate under the following national activity codes: (a) Cinema, video and television production activities; (b) Activities accompanying the production of films, videos and television programs; (c) Production of computer game software prototypes.

Complementary to the EIB’s current programmes for improving access to finance (eg. The Guarantee Fund for Greek SMEs, State Guarantee Facility, Trade Finance Enhancement Programme), the Institution for Growth (IfG) was established in 2014 as a non-bank financial institution intended to support innovation and growth in Greece by catalysing private sector financing, especially for SMEs. In particular, IfG was created to provide:

• Debt or equity financing and guarantees for SMEs;

• Debt or equity financing and guarantees for infrastructure projects;

• Equity capital to private equity and venture funds.

By July 2016, approximately EUR 200.7 million had been disbursed to cover approved loans to SMEs.

In March 2019 ETEAN SA (since April 2019 called the Hellenic Development Bank SA) announced the beginning of a new programme with the cooperation of Norway called “Business Innovation – Greece – Innovation Norway” which provides guarantees to business loans and is aimed enterprise whose business plans can be supported with the guarantee of the Hellenic Development Bank for a loan. The guarantee provided under the project is up to 80% of the loan amount. The amount of the loan is between 25,000 euros and 1,000,000 euros. The duration loans is estimated up to 10 years, with 24 months grace period. For each guarantee, a commission is paid to the Hellenic Development Bank by the borrower. The commission is calculated as follows: (loan amount) x (0.4%) x (years of loan duration) x (guarantee rate 80%). Where the loan is to be used as part of a financing scheme financed by another State aid scheme, the amount of the loan for which the guarantee is provided shall not exceed 40% of the total eligible amount of the financial scheme. Categories of projects eligible for funding are the following:

• Innovation in green industry - Reduction and reuse

• Blue Growth - Diversification of businesses

• Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

The amount of funding for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) is up to 50% of the cost of implementing the project, while for large enterprises it is less than 50%. The amount of funding that a company can apply for is between EUR 200 000 and EUR 1.5 million per project. Small and medium-sized businesses can also request smaller amounts from EUR 50 000 to EUR 200 000 per project.

The deadline for application is October 1, 2019.2

Furthermore, in 2017, the Hellenic Ministry for Economy & Development and its expertise body ETEAN S.A. (“Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship & Development S.A.”) created the following funds to enhance SME access to finance under loan and guarantee instruments:

• The Intermediate Entrepreneurship Fund was set up with a total budget of EUR 384 million. Half of this budget, EUR 192 million, came from loans successfully paid during the implementation period of its predecessor, the Entrepreneurship Fund I. Two financial instruments were established: "Business Restart" and "Guarantee Fund". It should be noted that the loans granted by the “Business Restart” instrument have favourable interest rates, which are on average less than 4.5%. Additionally, 50% of a loan’s value is offered interest-free.

• During the 2007-13 EU programming period (which was later extended to 2016), ETEAN’s Entrepreneurship Fund was covered SMEs’ needs in the form of loans and guarantees. Guarantees were administered using ERDF and national funds for a total of EUR 417 million (up to October 2016). These funds were allocated as public expenditures to cover the Entrepreneurship Fund’s actions along with co-investments of approximately EUR 830 million from the banking sector.

• The Western Macedonian’s Regional Development Fund, which was created in July 2017 under an agreement between the Hellenic Ministry for Economy and Development, ETEAN S.A. (“Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship & Development S.A.”) and the Region of West Macedonia. The fund’s initial budget was EUR 10 million (half from national funds, half from the Region of Western Macedonia’s funds), to be utilised for the provision of loans and guarantees to SMEs (mainly micro and small enterprises) located in the region of West Macedonia.

In addition, the following programmes were implemented during 2017-2018 with the cooperation of financial intermediaries (mainly banks):

• COSME 2014-2020 – Employment and Social Inclusion (EaSI): Greek banks signed agreements with the European Investment Bank (EIB) under the framework of the Loan Guarantee Facility (LGF) of the EU’s programme called Competitiveness SMEs (“COSME”). This support mechanism aims to improve SMEs’ access to loan funding through guarantees for loans up to EUR 150 000. LGF favours the development of complex high-risk financial instruments, such as the securitisation of SME debt finance portfolios. EIB signed agreements in 2016 with the National Bank of Greece (EUR 100 million) and Eurobank (EUR 130 million) and in 2017 with Alpha Bank (EUR 50 million) and Piraeus Bank (EUR 170 million). In addition, EIB signed agreements with Greek cooperative banks Cooperative Bank of Karditsa (EUR 5 million) and Pancretan Cooperative Bank (EUR 15 million) under Employment and Social Inclusion (“EaSI”), EU’s programme for the provision of microloans to very small and small companies.

• The Greek Export Credit Insurance Organization (OAEP) provides short-term and long-term export credit insurance to SMEs through the following programmes:

  • Short-term export credit insurance programme: insurance of short-term export credits (up to 12 months) against business and governments non-payment risks. Insurance covers exports of both goods and services. The OECD Short-term Export Credit Insurance Programmes are "Individual Loans" and "Global Export Insurance GLOBAL".

  • Long-term export credit insurance programme: this programme concerns export credit insurance against business and government non-payment risks in the medium- (2-5 years) to long-term (over 5 years).

Support to venture capital (New Economy Development Fund S.A., TANEO) - EquiFund

TANEO S.A.

The aim of the TANEO S.A., founded in 2003, is to participate on a minority basis in venture capital funds, venture capital companies, and similar schemes governed by the legislation of EU member states. These investment schemes are managed by agencies from the private sector, following a market-based approach, and must invest exclusively in innovative Greek SMEs.

Since its establishment, TANEO has participated in 11 venture capital funds that manage a total EUR 268 million, providing equity to almost 35 SMEs operating in various sectors, such as information and communication technologies, biotechnology, health, industrial materials, energy, food or beverages and services.

Table 18.5 below provides an overview of TANEO’s annual investments between 2007 and 2014.

Table 18.5. TANEO’s venture capital investments in Greece, 2007-2014
Year	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Funds' investments	w	8.4	17.8	14	12	10.5	9	4
Source: TANEO S.A. (www.taneo.gr).

In December 2016, TANEO SA merged with ETEAN SA and in January 2017 became a subsidiary of ETEAN S.A. The merger created a large development group to expand access to finance for SMEs.

Furthermore, during 2018 TANEO SA was funded: (a) with the amount of EUR 50 million for its participation in newly established venture capital schemes to invest in Greek R&D enterprises in the 4th Industrial Revolution; (b) with the amount of ΕUR 50 million for its participation in investment schemes aiming at the development of production and promotion of branded products "Made in Greece"; (c) with the amount of EUR 150 million for its participation in investment schemes aiming at the establishment of companies that need restructuring or reorganization and are active in the production and processing; (d) with the amount of EUR 450 million for its participation in newly established venture capital schemes which would invest through convertible bonds and bonds to SMEs. Subsequently, EUR 700 million in total will be invested in risk finance instruments through TANEO SA to Greek SMEs.

In 2019 TANEO became part of the Hellenic Development Bank SA which was established by the Greek Government with Law 4605/2019 and renamed as the Hellenic Investment Bank SA.

EquiFund

EquiFund was established by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Development in December 2016. As a participating fund, it provides equity to enable high value-added investments, through an initial budget of EUR 320 million, funded in part by the Operational Program for Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the ERDF (EUR 200 million). The European Investment Fund (EIF) and European Investment Bank (EIB) provide an additional EUR 60 million each to Equifund under the framework developed by the European Strategic Investment Plan (ESIF). EIF manages the fund. Equity is provided by intermediary holding fundschosen through an open competitive procedure. Specifically, EquiFund will invest in the following three key areas:

• Research and innovation (technology transfer – innovation window);

• General entrepreneurship for start-up enterprises (early stage);

• General entrepreneurship for enterprises in development (scale-up/growth).

A special emphasis will be accorded to the strategic sectors of the Greek economy such as tourism, energy, agri-food, the environment, supply chain, information and communication technologies, health and pharmaceutical industry, creative and cultural industries and materials and construction.

In early 2018, the evaluation process was finalised and eventually nine funds were chosen to provide equity to Greek SMEs as described below3:

• The Innovation Window: targets entrepreneurs that have a concept or idea that warrants development or have gained the attention of researchers who believe their project will yield results. Accelerators and incubators can offer expertise and support during kick-start phases. Technology transfer funds can provide finance and experience in transforming research into commercially viable propositions.

  • Chosen funds:

    • BigPi Ventures: BigPi Ventures focuses on technology transfers by assisting both research-based projects and companies active in the B2B segment.

    • Its target sectors include: software, data analytics, machine learning, SaaS and electronic-based hardware, including robotics, optics, and sensors. The Fund also invests in materials-science, energy-related technologies and clean technologies (clean-tech).

    • Metavallon fund: Metavallon is an accelerator that invests in pre-seed and seed stage technology and intellectual property (IP)-driven start-ups that produce information and communications technology (ICT) and engineering products.

    • Its target sectors include: B2B solutions and products in technology, ICT, robotics, microelectronics, artificial intelligence, data and machine learning, cyber security, energy, transportation and fintech.

    • Uni.Fund: Uni.Fund conducts pre-seed and seed investments in the broader technology sector, and aims to leverage the hidden potential of Greek universities, R&D centers and the technology space in general.

    • Its target sectors specifically include the ICT, e-business, robotics, maritime, supply chain, Internet of Things (IoT), energy informatics, and fintech sectors.

    • Velocity Partners: Velocity.Partners Fund is a pre-seed and seed acceleration fund that focuses on technology companies in verticals where the Greek economy can provide global validation and real market traction.

    • Targeted sectors include: ICT sector-oriented with a horizontal focus on SaaS, IoT, B2B and a sub-vertical focus on tech entrepreneurs wishing to operate in tourism/travel, fintech, logistics, retail, shipping, maritime and e-health and wellness.

• The Early Stage Window: targets high-growth potential start-ups. Venture capital funds can combine financing with expertise, business knowhow and access to networks to help start-ups reach their full potential.

  • Funds chosen:

    • Marathon VC: Marathon VC brings together a team that combines investment, entrepreneurial, technical and operational skills to help the new generation of ambitious founders build world-class technology companies. The fund targets SMEs at the seed and Series A stages.

      Targeted companies include generalist ICT companies with a B2B focus.

    • VentureFriends 400W: VentureFriends 400W brings together a strong and cohesive team able to provide substantial value to ICT SMEs in the seed and Series A stages.

      Targeted sectors include: Marketplaces and SaaS.

    • The growth stage window: Targets existing business owners that require support to scale-up their companies. Growth capital funds can offer financial backing and knowhow to help scale businesses through export, expansion and digitalisation.

  • Funds granted:

    • Elikonos 2: Elikonos 2 aspires to provide financing solutions to companies in sectors that offer the strongest growth opportunities in Greece.

      The fund targets all high-growth potential sectors.

    • EOS Capital Partners: EOS Capital Partners aims to establish a first Greek private equity group with a long-term perspective to support high-growth Greek companies

      Targeted sectors include all sectors with a particular focus on food & beverage, tourism, fintech, retail, energy efficiency and pharmaceuticals.

    • Synergia Hellenic Fund IV: Synergia Hellenic Fund IV targets Greek SMEs in sectors that offer great growth opportunities, while also adding value through active, hands-on partnerships with investee companies’ management.

      Targeted sectors include all sectors, with a special focus on the food and beverage, agri-business, tourism and hospitality, environment and energy efficiency sectors.

Deposits and Loans Fund - Creation of an Open Trusted (Escrow) Account

The Escrow Account was established by the Ministers of Finance, Economy and Development to assure the beneficiaries of the different National Strategic Reference Framework’s programmes an amount equal to the advance payment of the grant they are entitled to. The amount is gradually released for repayment of their suppliers' invoices, without the need for a letter of guarantee. As a result of this new mechanism, investors are no longer required to pre-finance the implementation of their investment plans.

Policy measures to address NPLs

According to data from the Central Bank of Greece (Monetary Policy 2016-2017 report), over the past two years, the bank, with the state’s cooperation, has taken a number of actions to address factors that have long thwarted banks’ efforts to lower high NPL rates. The recently completed reform of the legislative framework is expected to pave the way for a drastic reduction in NPLs by the end of 2019 when the goal is the reduction of the percentage of NPLs to 20%. In general, legislation was established concerning out-of-court workouts, to enable coordinated action between banks and other creditors, including the state and social security funds. Furthermore, legislation has been adopted to establish a platform for electronic auctions and provide legal protection for banks and public officials involved in debt restructuring.

The activation of the out-of-court mechanism is expected to have a decisive impact, as it offers a holistic approach to reducing NPLs, whereby all elements of debt are considered in formulating restructuring plans.

During 2017, the following regulatory actions were taken in order to help Greek SMEs settle their Non-performing loans and other liabilities:

• Law 4469/2017 "Extrajudicial Debt Settlement mechanism for enterprises and other provisions" is an attempt to address the legislative gap in the existing regulatory framework of debt settlements. The newly introduced framework on extrajudicial debt settlement seeks to address matters that remain unresolved under article 99 of the Greek Bankruptcy Code (rehabilitation proceedings) and Greek Law 3869/2010 (debt settlement of non-traders natural persons).

• Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) 130060/27-11-2017 (FEK Β'4158) "Simplified debt settlement procedure of companies not exceeding fifty thousand euros (EUR 50 000) under their affiliation to Law 4469/2017 ". JMD also applies to debtors with total debts to be settled from twenty thousand euros (EUR 20 000) to fifty thousand euros (EUR 50 000) and who meet the preconditions and eligibility criteria of articles 2 and 3 of the Law. Companies may file an Initiation Application electronically through a special platform of the Special Secretariat for the Management of Private Debt (www.keyd.gov.gr).

• Joint Ministerial Decision (JMD) 62134/4100/28-12-2017 (FEK B'/ 4640) Specialization of the criteria for defining solutions for debt settlements for Social Security Institutions up to EUR 50 000 according to paragraph 21 of article 15 of law 4469/2017. Based on these criteria, definitions for the methodology of determining the amounts and number of installments, exemption of debts from the settlement solutions and settlement of any other specific issues to implement these solutions. Applications to enter the new, 120-tranche payment scheme for the settlement of social security arrears up to EUR 50 000 euros has been accepted since December 2017.

• Creating and running a digital portal for submitting requests for inclusion in the Extrajudicial Compromise4

Creation of a single digital portal to inform public audience as regards the up to date available financial instruments in Greece

The Directorate for the Support of SMEs of the General Secretariat of Industry & SMEs of the Hellenic Ministry for Economy & Development created a single online portal to inform SMEs about up to date available financial instruments currently available in Greece. The web page is client-oriented, provides information regarding each financial instrument, and guides SMEs to accredited organisations that provide these various financial instruments in Greece. The website is updated on a regular basis and was chosen by EU (DG GROW) as a good practice in the area of policy initiatives focused on improving SMEs’ investment readiness and awareness about financial opportunities in the SME Envoys network.5

Figure 18.1. Trends in SME and entrepreneurship finance in Greece

Source: See Table 18.6.

 StatLink https://doi.org/10.1787/888934116794

Table 18.6. Definitions and sources for Greece’s scoreboard
Indicator	Definition	Source
Debt
Outstanding business loans, SMEs	Outstanding amounts (stocks) end of year. Including overdrafts, lines of credit, loans, MFI holdings of corporate bonds, syndicated loans, securitised loans and securitised corporate bonds. Refers to business Loans only. Self-employed and farmers are not included.	Bank of Greece, Statistics, Monetary and Banking Statistics, Credit Aggregates. http://www.bankofgreece.gr/Pages/en/Statistics/monetary/financing.aspx
Outstanding business loans, total	Outstanding amounts (stocks) end of year. Including overdrafts, lines of credit, loans, MFI holdings of corporate bonds, syndicated loans, securitised loans and securitised corporate bonds. Refers to business Loans only. Self-employed and farmers are not included.	Bank of Greece, Statistics, Monetary and Banking Statistics, Credit Aggregates. http://www.bankofgreece.gr/Pages/en/Statistics/monetary/financing.aspx
New business lending, total	Amounts during each year including securitised loans and corporate bonds. Flows arise from changes in stocks during each year adjusted for loan write-offs, impairments of securities, foreign exchange differences and reclassifications/loan transfers.	Bank of Greece
New business lending, SMEs	Amounts during each year including securitised loans and corporate bonds. Flows arise from changes in stocks during each year adjusted for loan write-offs, impairments of securities, foreign exchange differences and reclassifications/loan transfers.	Bank of Greece
Short-term loans, SMEs	Outstanding amounts (stocks), end of year, including loans with a duration up to 5 years.	Bank of Greece
Long-term loans, SMEs	Outstanding amounts (stocks), end of year, including loans with a duration more than 5 years.	Bank of Greece
Government loan guarantees, SMEs	Outstanding balance guaranteed at the end of each year as referred to the Ministry of Finance - Public Debt's periodocal editιons (as regards ETEAN S.A. only).	Ministry of Finance, 2018 State Budget introductory Report, p.131, 132 https://www.minfin.gr/documents/20182/4681901/%CE%95%CE%99%CE%A3%CE%97%CE%93%CE%97%CE%A4%CE%99%CE%9A%CE%97+%CE%95%CE%9A%CE%98%CE%95%CE%A3%CE%97+2018.pdf/1036b940-0c1b-4ee0-8d8e-eda0e6062f73, Public Debt's periodocal editιons: https://www.minfin.gr/web/guest/deltia-demosiou-chreous
Non-performing loans, total	Loans past-due 90 days. The EBA definition includes exposure to companies which may not be able to meet their obligations without liquidation of collateral. Such loans are about 25% of the number of Non-performing Exposures according to BoG, Monetary Policy Report 2014-15, p. 122	Bank of Greece. There is a break in the series for NPLs. As of 2017, "on Balance sheet" items are only included in NPLs. Before 2017, both "on and off balance sheet" items were included.
Non-performing loans, SMEs	Loans past-due 90 days. The EBA definition includes exposure to companies which may not be able to meet their obligations without liquidation of collateral. Such loans are about 25% of the number of Non-performing Exposures according to BoG, Monetary Policy Report 2014-15, p. 122	Bank of Greece
Interest rate, SMEs	New loans to non-financial corporations, yearly weighted average, defined maturity, for all maturities, floating interest rate or rate fixed up to 1 year	Bank of Greece
Interest rate, large firms	New loans to non-financial corporations, yearly weighed average, defined maturity, for all maturities, floating interest rate or rate fixed up to 1 year	Bank of Greece
Collateral, SMEs	ECB, Statistical Data Warehouse, April 2017 "SAFE" Survey, SMEs, question 10, Bank Financing conditions: Collateral requirements, Net percentage (increased minus decreased over the past six months)	ECB, SAFE.H.GR.SME.A.0.0.0.Q10.10E.NN.AL.WP
Percentage of SME loan applications	ECB, Statistical Data Warehouse, April 2017 "SAFE" Survey, SMEs, question 7A, Financing applied, Bank loan - "Applied" - Including not applicable responses - Weighted percentage of responses	ECB, SAFE.H.GR.SME.A.0.0.0.Q7A.FBLN.R1.AL.WP
Rejection rate	ECB, Statistical Data Warehouse, April 2017 "SAFE" Survey, SMEs, question 7B,"Applied but was rejected", Weighted percentage of responses by enterprises that applied for a bank loan	ECB, SAFE.H.GR.SME.A.0.0.0.Q7B.FBLN.S4.AL.WP
Non-bank finance
Venture and growth capital	Annual total (flows), seed, start-up, later stage venture and growth capital (excludes buyouts, turnaround, replacement capital).Growth capital is included.	For the 2014-2017 period, data include only total invested amounts per year by funds supported by EIF, in companies whose legal seat is Greece or whose main operations are in Greece (data received by EIF).
Leasing and hire purchases	Leasing companies loans – to domestic non-financial corporations, total outstanding amounts at the end of period, leasing activity of credit institutions not included.	Bank of Greece, Statistics, Non Monetary Financial Institutions, Aggregated Balance Sheet of Other Financial Institutions, Aggegated Balance Sheet of leasing companies. Note: Loans to non-financial corporations by leasing companies are a subtotal of Deposits and Loans Item of Aggregated Balance Sheet
Factoring and invoicing	Factoring companies’ loans to domestic non-financial corporations, total outstanding amounts at the end of period, factoring activity of credit institutions not included.	Bank of Greece, Statistics, Non Monetary Financial Institutions, Aggregated Balance Sheet of Other Financial Institutions, Aggegated Balance Sheet of factoring companies. Note: Loans to non-financial corporations by factoring companies are a subtotal of Deposits and Loans Item of Aggregated Balance Sheet
Other indicators
Payment delays, B2B	Average Payment Delays, B2B, days	2008-2014 from Intrum Justicia, European Payment Index 2014, European Payment Report 2015, European Commission Economic Papers 531. For 2015 -2018 data are from Atradius Payment Practices Barometer. Payment delays average refers to Greek Business customers only.
Bankruptcies, SMEs	Data on bankruptcies containing data on businesses declared bankrupt in accordance with the relevant court orders which have been issued. Aggregated data are collected on the basis of the court orders issued by the Courts of First Instance.	Hellenic Statistics Authority

References

Bank of Greece, Governor’s Annual Report 2018.

Bank of Greece, Monetary Policy 2018-2019 Report, 2-7-2019.

Bank of Greece, Statistics, Monetary, Financing.

Bank of Greece, Statistics, Non-Monetary Financial Institutions, Aggregated Balance Sheet of Other Financial Institutions, Aggregated Balance Sheet of leasing companies. Note: Loans to non-financial corporations by leasing companies are a subtotal of Deposits and Loans Item of Aggregated Balance Sheet.

Hellenic Statistical Authority, Bankruptcy Statistics 2010-2017, https://www.statistics.gr/en/statistics/-/publication/SJU21/-.

Hellenic Ministry of Finance, 2019 State’s Budget.

Hellenic Ministry of Finance, Public Debt periodical editions, https://www.minfin.gr/web/guest/deltia-demosiou-chreous.

ECB, "SAFE" Survey, June 2019.

European Commission, SBA Fact Sheet 2018.

European Commission, SME Performance Review 2014-2018.

European Commission, “SME access to finance conditions 2018 SAFE results – Greece”.

EVCA, European Private Equity Activity Data 2007-2015.

OECD.  (2018), OECD Economic Surveys: Greece 2018, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Equifund, https://equifund.gr/equifund/

Hellenic Ministry for Development and Investments/General Secretariat for Industry, http://www.ggb.gr/en/Finance_SMEs_Loan_Funding, http://www.ggb.gr/en/Finance_SMEs_Development_Loan

Notes

← 1. According to the European Union standard definition (2003/361/EC), SMEs are firms with less than 250 employees and annual turnover below EUR 50 million and/or balance sheet below EUR 43 million. A small enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 10 million. The category of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is made up of enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million. Within the SME category, a small enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 10 million.

Within the SME category, a microenterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million.

← 2. For more information: https://www.innovasjonnorge.no/en/start-page/eea-norway-grants/Programmes/business-development/greece--business-development-innovation-and-smes/first-call-for-proposals-on-greece-business-innovation/

← 3. For more information: https://equifund.gr/, http://www.ggb.gr/en/Private_Equity_Capital)

← 4. For information visit: http://www.keyd.gov.gr/np_ocw_aithsh-link/

← 5. For more information visit:

http://www.ggb.gr/el/node/1040 (el) http://www.ggb.gr/en/Finance_SMEs_instruments (en)