Proposing tailored solutions • the internationalization of 20,000 Italian enterprises, through
UniCredit International
Ensuring quality service also means giving our employees the
opportunity to personalize their services based on the individual In 2012, roughly 10,800 new startups were supported in Italy with
customer’s needs or to propose country- or industry-specific roughly €490 million in medium/long-term and more than €500
solutions according to the circumstances. million of short-term financing17 to sustain the real economy.
SMEs have been the backbone of the European economy during the In addition UniCredit accompanied more than 7,300 Italian
recent economic downturn, with 20.7 million SMEs accounting for enterprises abroad to help them identify new growth
more than 98 percent of all enterprises and more than 87 million opportunities. 1,000 Italian enterprises participated in the
jobs across Europe15. Given their contributions to technology, seminars regarding the global markets scenario. 730 enterprises
exports, job creation, and innovative products and processes, SMEs had the opportunity to hold 4,600 business-to-business
are key drivers of economic growth in the majority of countries meetings with more than 200 foreign enterprises. These
where we work. They are vital contributors to GDP, which is why numbers demonstrate that UniCredit is a valuable partner for
we are so focused on supporting their SME development with companies working to grow their business.
our knowledge, expertise, and capability to cooperate with local
chambers of commerce and other relevant groups. Many other UniCredit countries, including Germany, Austria,
Romania and Russia - where there are a number of clients
First of all, we are part of the Prime Collateralised Securities (PCS) and potential clients operating businesses abroad - carry
initiative to revitalize securitization market and promote lower out internationalization initiatives and organize events that
finance costs for the real economy. Since November 2012, 10 involve key actors such as chambers of commerce and business
transactions have been recognized as PCS-compliant contributing associations. As just one example, in 2012 we provided support
to reinforce asset-backed securities as sustainable investment and to more than 3,100 Corporate international clients in Romania.
funding tools16.
In Hungary, we were the first financial institution to implement
a Loan Combined with Guarantee for SMEs. Customers worked
directly with our bank to apply for their subsidy and loan requests,
which shortened the application lead time. Once a credit decision
had been made, the subsidy approval and credit guarantee occured
simultaneously. As a result, the process was quicker, easier and
guaranteed that customers received the loans needed to fund their
projects. In 2012, 6 contracts were signed with clients.
Since the beginning of the global economic crisis, exports
have powered growth in domestic markets, making significant
contributions to GDP. As a result, our bank seeks to support SMEs
that want to grow or expand their businesses in foreign markets, to
secure new commercial counterparts and business opportunities,
or to invest abroad - but may lack the knowledge to do so.
Our UniCredit per l’Italia initiative supports Italy’s real economy
and companies with this in mind. A full recovery in the country’s
exports is vital to reversing its declining GDP and renewing the
global competitiveness of Italian enterprise.
This initiative supports:
• Italian domestic businesses, by issuing €40 billion in new loans
over the next three years through UniCredit For Territories.
In 2012 we already issued roughly €12.6 billion in new loans Photo by: UniCredit Bulbank.
15. Source: EU SMEs in 2012: at the crossroads - Annual Report on small and medium-sized
enterprises in the EU, 2011/2012, publication realized for European Commission.
16. Refer to the 2011 Sustainability Report and http://pcsmarket.org for more information.
Data as of March 2013.. 17. Refer to the Fostering Communities chapter for more information on our startup support.
UniCredit · 2012 Sustainability Report 49