(Alliance News) - BPER Banca Spa announced Wednesday that it has renewed its 20-year partnership with Apo Conerpo through a EUR50 million loan aimed at supporting development projects 2023-2024.

Apo Conerpo, an agricultural cooperative society founded in 1967 in Villanova, in the province of Bologna, is Europe's leading fruit and vegetable producer organization that brings together 50 cooperatives spread across Italy's most important fruit and vegetable regions, with more than 6,000 producers and more than one million tons of fruit and vegetables marketed each year.

Thanks to the agreement with BPER Banca, it will be possible to guarantee First International Association Fruit - Finaf, the first and largest association of transnational fruit and vegetable producer organizations on the European scene, AOP of reference of Apo Conerpo, rapidly available resources to support the important investments put in place as part of the activities of the current biennium of the operational program.

Cecilia Bavera, head of the Emilia East-Romagna regional office of BPER Bank, commented, "We are proud to continue to collaborate with Apo Conerpo and to be able to guarantee concrete support to a supply chain that represents the leading economic sector in our country with almost 4 million employees, or 17 percent of the national total. Despite the natural disasters that hit it, the evidence shows that there is room for dynamic development, leveraging excellence and sustainability."

"BPER's attention to the agribusiness world intends to continue to manifest itself also with specific initiatives, in the form of packages and services, designed to support the agricultural entrepreneur in his or her daily activities."

"The fruit and vegetable supply chains have faced very complex years, strongly marked by the effects of climate change, a context in which the certainty of the availability of resources and the rapidity of collection are elements of the utmost importance," said Davide Vernocchi, president of Apo Conerpo. "More than 6,000 farms will benefit from these resources. We can only thank BPER Bank for confirming its willingness to continue to walk alongside the supply chain, a synergy that has been going on for some time and is of great help for the economic sustainability of agricultural enterprises."

BPER Bank's stock is up 0.3 percent at EUR4.39 per share.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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