Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, September 11, 2013
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has extended trade credit to Sberbank to channel additional financing to the bank’s clients working in import and export in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
With the $20 million credit line, Sberbank will increase its product offerings and financial support for corporate customers in Bosnia and Herzegovina engaged in international trade, helping those firms reach new markets, expand operations, and create jobs.
“IFC is an important partner for Sberbank in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Edin Karabeg, CEO of Sberbank Bosnia and Herzegovina. “This credit line will significantly improve our capacity to support trade activities of our existing and future customers.”
Sberbank is the second bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the IFC Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP), and joins BPS Sberbank Belarus and Sberbank Kazakhstan in the IFC trade program. The GTFP promotes trade in emerging markets by providing partial or full guarantees for individual trade transactions backed by IFC’s triple-A rating.
Tomasz Telma, IFC Director for Europe and Central Asia, said: “IFC is dedicated to supporting private sector development in Bosnia and Herzegovina and partnering with Sberbank is an important part of that strategy. By joining the GTFP network, Sberbank will reduce transaction costs and improve access to finance for its customers.”
Since IFC launched the GTFP in 2005 it has issued more than 15,000 guarantees, totaling more than $25 billion, for banks to support the trade-related payment obligations of their corporate and SME customers in emerging markets. In fiscal year 2013, the GTFP in the Europe and Central Asia region reached a record $1 billion in program activity.
Globally, the GTFP provided more than $3 billion to support trade in the world’s poorest countries, with 80 percent of all program guarantees provided on behalf of small and medium importers and exporters. IFC’s global GTFP network of partner banks includes more than 500 financial institutions.
Bosnia and Herzegovina became a shareholder and member of IFC in 1996. Since then IFC has invested $376 million in the local economy, with particular focus on manufacturing and financial markets. IFC has also invested in the country’s health sector, municipal infrastructure, agribusiness, and construction.
IFC offers advisory services that aim to improve the investment climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, encourage the use of renewable energy, expand access to finance, and attract private sector participation in the development of infrastructure projects.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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