Moscow, Nov. 13 -- The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed a US$7.7 million financing agreement with the Savvinskaya-Seiyo Company to construct a 10,959 square meter office building in central Moscow. The Savvinskaya Business Center, located on the east bank of the Moscow River at Savvinskaya Naberezhnaya 15, will be the first modern, international-quality commercial office complex in central Moscow. The project will address a severe shortage of business infrastructure that has resulted from the large number of foreign companies searching for office space in light of the country's economic opening. Savvinskaya-Seiyo is a Russian joint stock company owned by the Seibu Oil & Gas Trading Co., a Japanese limited liability company; Moskva-Seiyo TO, a Russian limited partnership between the Seiyo Corporation of Japan and the Commercial Bank for International Settlements of Russia; the Japan International Development Organization Ltd. (JAIDO); and two other Japanese companies. The Savvinskaya Business
Center is the second joint project between IFC and JAIDO. "This project will help remedy the lack of financing that has hindered the development of modern business infrastructure in Moscow," said Mr. Anthony Doran, Manager of the Russia Division in IFC's Europe Department, who attended the signing. "As one of the first Japanese investments in Russia, it will hopefully encourage other Japanese companies to look at opportunities in the country," he added. IFC is providing a US$5.6 million senior loan and a US$2.1 million subordinated convertible loan, both for its own account. IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is the leading multilateral source of equity and loan finance for private sector projects in developing and emerging economies.
