Major deal: this year’s biggest loan to agricultural sector from Bigbank

Bigbank is to grant an 18-million-euro investment loan to Trebor Agro, a company in the Agrone Group. This is the largest amount the bank is using for financing the agricultural sector in 2021.

According to Jaanus Kaik, Chief Financial Officer of the Agrone Group the term of the loan is 30 years and the money will be used for the acquisition of arable land and for funding day-to-day operations.

„With its management, products and environmentally friendly production processes the Agrone Group is a modern enterprise, a leader in its field, demonstrating that to be successful one does not only have to be great in volume, but also great in thinking,“ said Ingo Põder, Head of Corporate Banking of the Bigbank Group.

According to Ingo Põder, Estonian agricultural enterprises are getting bolder in investing, and it is rather the banks that are dragging their feet in granting loans to them. „The strategy of Bigbank is to increase the volumes in the field of agriculture and forestry. We created a separate department, which is dealing exclusively with funding arable and forest land,“ Põder said, adding that in comparison with the first six months of 2020, in 2021 the Bigbank agricultural loan portfolio has grown six times in Estonia.

„Estonia’s climate is well suited for agricultural production, we have the land and the skills, which makes agriculture a very promising sector for Bigbank. Modern equipment is expensive, but it helps raise agricultural firms to a new level. Supporting the farmers who know their job contributes to maintaining local food production and rural life in general,“ Põder explained.

The Agrone Group is one of Estonia’s largest food producers, with its product range including dairy, meat and egg products, grain for food and feed as well as seed crops. The 2020 pro forma consolidated operating revenue of the Agrone Group was 28 million euros.