Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 16, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 19, 2026
Add as preferred source on GooglePiraeus Bank and EIB have agreed on €100M funding for Greek defence SMEs, marking a significant investment in the EU's defence sector.
ATHENS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The European Investment Bank, the EU's lending arm, and Greece's Piraeus Bank signed an agreement on Friday to provide up to 100 million euros ($116 million) of funding to small- and medium-sized defence companies.
The EIB plans to provide at least 3 billion euros to help fund the European Union's defence industry and might revise the number even higher if there is more demand.
Piraeus is the first Greek bank to sign such an agreement with the EIB.
The Greek bank's CEO Christos Megalou told a press conference in Athens that by leveraging the funds "the bank will be able to provide 200 million euros to a few hundred small and medium size Greek companies that are active in the cybersecurity and defence sectors".
Germany's Deutsche Bank signed a similar agreement in June.
Greece plans to spend more than 28 billion euros on arms procurements by 2035 to modernise its armed forces. It has said that 25% of this will go to domestic defence companies.
Eirini Botonaki, the EIB's senior loan officer, said the investment bank was also "in discussions with other Greek banks" over similar agreements.
($1 = 0.8610 euros)
(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas. Editing by Mark Potter)
Piraeus Bank is a major financial institution in Greece, providing banking and financial services to individuals and businesses.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lending arm of the European Union, providing finance and expertise for sustainable investment projects.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are businesses whose personnel numbers or financial turnover fall below certain limits, contributing significantly to the economy.
The defense industry encompasses businesses involved in the production of military equipment, technology, and services for national defense.
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