Finnvera's new financing products, the Counter-cyclical Loan and the Counter-cyclical Guarantee, will be taken into use on 6 March 2009. Intended for enterprises employing a maximum of 1,000 people, the counter-cyclical products help offset the consequences that the economic downturn following the financial crisis has had on enterprises' liquidity or profitability. The fixed-term arrangement will be applied during the years 2009-2011. Counter-cyclical Loans and Guarantees are intended for SMEs and for larger companies employing at most 1,000 people, that have difficulties in securing financing in the current economic situation. The company's profitability and liquidity may have suffered because of the financial situation, for which reason the company needs working capital to boost its liquidity or an investment improving competitiveness lacks financing. “These situations require special measures, and through our counter-cyclical products we help enterprises to survive beyond the recession. By means of corporate analysis, we determine whether the enterprise has the potential for profitable business after the recession. Another prerequisite for the utilisation of our counter-cyclical products is that the enterprise's other principal financiers also participate in the financing by granting additional funds or by rescheduling their receivables,” says Executive Vice President Veijo Ojala, who is responsible for domestic regional financing. The maximum total amount of Counter-cyclical Loans and Guarantees granted in 2009-2011 is EUR 900 million. Ojala estimates that during the next three years, counter-cyclical products will be offered to about 6,000 enterprises. In Counter-cyclical Loans, Finnvera's share of the financing is generally at most 50-70 per cent, but it can be even greater if the projects concerned are fairly small. Using a Counter-cyclical Guarantee, Finnvera can guarantee at most 80 per cent of a loan. The maximum amount of Counter-cyclical Loans and Guarantees per enterprise is EUR 10 million. “In domestic financing, Finnvera can grant financing to SMEs. In only rare exceptional cases can financing be granted to large enterprises. Now we can also offer counter-cyclical products to enterprises employing over 250 but not more than 1,000 people. This may be of major importance for employment.” Since the State is committed to compensating Finnvera for a higher percentage of any losses incurred in counter-cyclical products, Finnvera can take greater risks than normally. The Government decided to amend its commitments concerning Finnvera's credit and guarantee losses so that, in the case of Counter-cyclical Loans and Guarantees, the State's compensation for any losses is greater than the compensation for losses that may arise from Finnvera's other financing products. Additional information: Veijo Ojala, Executive Vice President, tel. +358 20 460 7405 or +358 400 672 401