CoopEst is a financial facility aiming at initiating and fostering the development of co-operatives, mutual societies, associations, foundations and social enterprises (which together can be referred to as Social Economy).
The target countries of CoopEst in Central and Eastern Europe are Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
The creation of CoopEst is based on the evidence that the access to long-term financing (private and public) in Central and Eastern Europe is still very limited and difficult for Small and Medium enterprises (SME) – mainly due to the weakness of their financial structure.
Therefore, CoopEst aims to provide long-term financial support both in terms of equity (subordinated loan), long-term loans and guarantees to sustainable and socially responsible projects in the target countries enabling them to leverage further funding for the development of their activities.
