More Opportunities for Agribusiness Lending Through Banks in Kosovo

At times, banks are unable to meet peak demands for working capital finance by companies in the agriculture and food processing sector. Delayed payments and bank liquidity problems thus become a challenge to the growth of the private sector. One way of resolving the stalemate is the application of contract financing, a new bank product. 

At a workshop on contract financing organized on 25 September 2017 by two consulting firms, Wasmus Consulting and Recura, loan officers from NLB bank in Kosovo were familiarized with this concept and how convenient that is for agribusinesses especially in situations when traditional collateral is not readily available. This initial training for NLB loan officers aimed to impart best practices of lending to agribusinesses, with special focus on the current context of the agriculture sector and financing in Kosovo. 

The workshop is a follow up of an earlier research conducted by Wasmus Consulting related to the access to financial services in the agriculture sector in Kosovo. On the other hand, a gap analysis conducted within the bank aimed to identify to what extent the bank is ready for new products and how familiar the loan officers are. 

This intervention is supported by PPSE, as part of the collaboration with the sector actors to introduce and promote receivables-based fiancing (contract financing) in the market through building and enhancing capacity in the financial market.