Koop57 has been fully operational, having been recognised as an entity by the Coop57 Governing Council of Catalonia, at an event held at Ondarroa on 20 June.

The day before, a meeting was held between some 40 representatives of Coop57 in the rest of the territories. Specifically, that day turned 20 years Coop57 de Catalunya, created in 1995 on the initiative of the workers who were dismissed from the editorial Bruguera. All this gave special meaning to the meeting of Ondarroa.

Two years of work

The members of Euskal Herriko Koop57 have been working for two years to achieve a project that will allow them to have an alternative financial instrument. So far, loan requests, data collection and data management required approval by the bodies of the Catalan Society of Coop57.

As of today, the Basque institution will have a technical and social committee to draw up feasibility plans and take decisions with complete autonomy. As explained by Liher González, a member of Koop57, to Argia, the Catalan entity has been a good platform to “save time above all”. What should normally be a work of many years, has been carried out in a year and a half, based on a project already materialized in Catalonia.

“The vocation of Coop57 de Catalunya has never been to leave this country, because it is a land that they do not know,” says Gonzalez. The initiative must be in the hands of local actors.”

What objectives does it have?

Members of the financial cooperative are working non-stop to explain their project: “It’s a complex thing, it’s a great change of philosophy and a lot of people find it hard to understand,” says González. But their objectives are very clear: they want to be a key financial instrument in cooperative networks.

They also work with other actors beyond this area. They have recently signed an agreement with Udalbiltza to implement renewable energy projects in the municipalities. The key is to give the public service a cooperative and community character: management will be public, but control will fall on the community.

How does it work?

In the words of González, Koop57 is a "parabancal instrument" that has "a great capacity". It does not operate with the bank card as the ethical bank Fiare, it has no possibility of having cashiers and other financial products, but it must not take into account the rules and interest rates established by the Bank of Spain.

On the one hand, it has collaborating partners, people who save. Each year, an amount may be paid in exchange for an agreed amount in assembly. On the other hand, there are service partners, who can save but can also receive loans; they are usually cooperatives, NGOs, etc. However, not only are collective actors funded, but the needs of the self-employed are also taken into account for a social purpose: “Why not help the farmer supplying a consumer group?”

A loan is granted not on the basis of the wealth of the guarantor, but on the basis of personal pooled guarantees. “Suppose you need a loan of 50,000 euros; you would need 50 people willing to endorse 1,000 euros,” says Koop57 member. Thus, the borrower already has sponsors who are willing to believe in the project and disseminate it before it begins.

In the event that the loan cannot be paid, the depreciation so far is disregarded and the guarantors would have to pay the rest, but without interest. “The risk is lower and you shouldn’t think that your mother’s or your grandfather’s house will be taken away from you.”