Ministry of SMEs Launches 50 Billion KRW Special Guarantee for SMEs to Revitalize Nuclear Power

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 10th that it will implement special guarantees through the Korea Technology Finance Corporation starting from the 11th to revitalize the nuclear power industry and support the liquidity of small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in the nuclear power industry.

The support targets will be broadly operated to include "cooperative companies of nuclear power plant operators and related businesses" and "companies confirmed to have transactional relationships such as supplying nuclear power-related products, services, and goods."

In addition, the guarantee support amount will be increased by 30% compared to the general standard amount to sufficiently provide the necessary funds. Along with this, the guarantee fee rate will be reduced by 0.3 percentage points, and the guarantee ratio will be raised by 10 percentage points from the standard guarantee ratio of 85% to 95%.

For companies already using Kibo guarantees that are experiencing management difficulties such as decreased sales, management improvement consulting will be provided, and if necessary, maturity extension measures will be taken to alleviate repayment burdens. New funds required for management improvement will also be supported.

Even for existing guarantee users who are not experiencing management difficulties but are struggling with repayment burdens, a full one-year maturity extension will be supported in principle when the guarantee maturity comes due, thereby easing management burdens.

Furthermore, to quickly identify difficulties and provide guarantee support, the heads of the nine regional headquarters of Kibo have been designated as on-site response team leaders, and response teams will be formed at all 62 branches under the jurisdiction of the regional headquarters to provide customized support for each company.

An official from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups expressed hope that "this special guarantee will lead to revitalization of management and securing competitiveness for nuclear power cooperative SMEs, thereby contributing to strengthening the nuclear power industry ecosystem."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.