EGAP will insure exports to Greece

Monday, 18. June 2012

As a member state of the European Union and a member of Eurozone, Greece did not belong among countries where short-term export credit insurance was possible with state support. This role has been left to commercial credit insurance companies.

As problems of Greek economy have been deepening and they have been accompanied by insufficient offer of export insurance cover to Greece by commercial credit insurers, the European Commission decided on excluding Greece from a list of marketable risk countries as of 20 April 2012. It means for Czech exporters that EGAP may insure the whole range of maturities including the previously forbidden short-term export credits. However, an option to insure the extended range of maturities shall not mean that economic situation of individual companies involved in the export or its financing will not be taken into account. An inseparable part of such assessment is also evaluation of the respective export transaction. From the economic point of view, Greece represents a very fragile territory so its actual assessment in relation to the intended export will play its role. In any case, EGAP is ready for interest of exporters from the Czech Republic to Greece, it will assess projects and when their final evaluation shows their feasibility, it will be involved in their insurance including those with short maturities.