MGFSME confirms issuing guarantees for women entrepreneurs as one of its main priorities

The Municipal Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises supports the lending of women entrepreneurs with equal priority to other financial conditions. Last year alone, the amount of the guarantee commitment to female entrepreneurs from Sofia was BGN 507,286 and the amount of loans was nearly BGN 1.5 million. This was announced by Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia, in the framework of the Global Forum of Women Leaders “Inspiring the Digital Leaders of the Future” in the presence of EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Maria Gabriel, Minister of the Bulgarian Presidency Lilyana Pavlova, President of the Council of Women in Business Boryana Manolova and the Chairperson of the Board of Management of the MGFSME Irina Yordanova.

Together, in partnership, the Municipal Guarantee Fund and DSK Bank launched a Program for financing innovative start-ups. The new guarantee scheme will also encourage the participation of women entrepreneurs in the capital.

According to the data of 2017 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and NSI, 30% of the employers in Bulgaria are women, and for the self-employed the share of women is even higher – 36%. Observations from Eurostat show that in our country the employment rate among women in working age is over 60 per cent. By this indicator the country is ahead of Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Poland, Romania.

Mayor Fandakova pointed out that through the Municipal Investment Agency we are stimulating partnerships with other European cities – already established with London and co-operating with Vienna. Sofia Municipality also works through other structures and programs for development and support of women entrepreneurs.

Under “Programme Europe” Sofia Municipality supports the implementation of European initiatives and projects in the civil sector in partnership with the local authorities, a number of initiatives related to women.