Unicaja and Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias Castilla-La Mancha have renewed the collaboration agreement under which the bank will support the organization of activities or projects with the aim of highlighting the importance of the agri-food industry in the region.
Unicaja’s regional manager in Castilla-La Mancha, Almudena Noheda, and the president of Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Castilla-La Mancha, Ángel Villafranca, have signed this agreement in the facilities of the financial institution in Toledo, accompanied by the director of Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Castilla-La Mancha, Juan Miguel del Real, and the area manager of Unicaja in Toledo, Mariana Palacios.
According to Almudena Noheda, “this is a sign of Unicaja's commitment to the agricultural and livestock cooperative sector in the region, with which we want to work, hand in hand, to promote their competitiveness and thus contribute to the development of Castilla-La Mancha from a key pillar of our economy”. In this sense, she recalled that the bank offers a complete range of products and services designed to provide the best financial solutions to cooperatives.
For his part, Ángel Villafranca stressed the importance of establishing lines of collaboration between the two entities to help improve the competitiveness of cooperatives and farmers and ranchers; a collaboration that has already been in place for more than a decade and which he hopes will continue in the coming years, as both institutions have demonstrated their strong roots in the region and a firm commitment to creating value in the region's rural areas.
Unicaja's continuous support to agriculture and farming translates into the provision of financial, protection and advisory services, as well as the development of specific agreements. In this sense, the collaboration with organizations such as Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias facilitates proximity with farmers and ranchers, allowing to detect the needs of these professionals and to offer them specialized advice.
Products and services adapted to the needs of the sector
Unicaja maintains its commitment to the sector in the region and is constantly working on the design of new financing products and services to adapt to the needs and opportunities that may be generated by the cooperatives. In this way, they will be able to have access to loans for agricultural investments, to improve the sustainability of their businesses or to finance new crops.
Likewise, to facilitate the day-to-day activity of companies and self-employed in the sector, Unicaja offers the Fee-Free Plan for Agricultural Professionals, with which, by complying with some conditions, they can benefit from accounts without maintenance or administration fees, fee-free online transfers, associated professional credit card or linked wireless mobile POS terminal without maintenance fees, among others.
In addition, they will be able to access aid advances, seasonal loans, harvest advances or advances on agricultural insurance premiums, among other products, always with the advice of the specialized staff of Unicaja's branches in the region, with extensive experience to provide a personalized and high quality service.
Representing more tan 450 cooperatives
Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias Castilla-La Mancha is the entity that represents, defends and promotes the agri-food cooperative industry in Castilla-La Mancha, providing the necessary services to make this sector more competitive.
Founded in 1987 in Alcázar de San Juan (Ciudad Real), it currently comprises 456 cooperatives in Castilla-La Mancha, representing more than 160,989 members in different sectors.
Since its creation, it has had an active presence on the agri-food scene, defending the interests of the cooperatives and their members and presenting at all times rigorous and professional alternatives to the different problems that have arisen in the region's agri-food sector.
It is a member of Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España and, through it, of the Confederación General de las Cooperativas Agrarias de la Unión Europea (COGECA), an organization that represents the European agricultural cooperative movement.
