A non-banking institution, the Profireal Group, has launched a new loan scheme in Bulgaria.
Founded in the Czech Republic, Profireal expanded to Poland and Slovakia before opening in Bulgaria.
According to a November 7 media statement, the group will provide loans to clients “according to their pay-back abilities and without the need for them to specify any purpose of the loans,” and using direct sale methods.
The company will not require borrowers to provide certificates of income for loans of less than 1700 leva.
More than eight million leva will be invested in Profireal Bulgaria’s operation. The company said that it intended creating more than 300 jobs in the country.
The company said that its “Profi Credit” product would assure loans from 600 to 10 00 leva “to all people who need money, as the only requirement for candidates is to be employed”.
Individuals with a permanent labour contract, freelancers, as well as pensioners and students, could borrow under the scheme, the media statement said. A delay in repayment of up to three installments is possible if a borrower has lost their job or for health reasons is temporarily unable to work.
The company said that it offered “total transparency” on customers’ obligations and that customers would know exactly the size of repayments.
The company said that it would launch in Bulgaria in phases. Pleven and Varna are the first regions in which the company will be operating as of now. The company is to launch in Blagoevgrad in January 2007. It will open offices in Bourgas and Plovdiv in May 2007 and in August 2007 in Sofia. The company’s development plans stipulate full country coverage by the end of 2007.
The company was launched in 1994. Its statement said that it had achieved significant growth over the past three years, including expansion of international activity.
The number of loans provided internationally in 2005 was 43 628, compared to 24 394 in 2003. The number of external credit advisers working for the company in 2005, was nearly 2200, compared to 595 in 2003.
