WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 18 -- The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has approved a US$15 million medium-term credit line for United Export Import (Unexim) Bank. Unexim will use the credit line to provide loans to Russian private enterprises for financing the production and export of Russian products and for the expansion and modernization of sound businesses. The restructuring of the Russian banking sector, a critical component of Russia's economic reforms, has resulted in over 2,500 privately owned banks operating in the country. These banks are faced with challenging and uncertain economic conditions leading banks to focus on short-term trade-related transactions and limiting the development of longer-term project finance operations. The credit line provided by IFC will enable Unexim to provide Russian enterprises with much-needed term funding for equipment acquisition and working capital. The development of project finance operations at Unexim and other Russian banks is crucial to the restructuring of both the banking and enterprise sectors. Unexim is expected to target investments in sectors such as construction materials, printing and retail services and resource-based industries. Unexim, which is one of Russia's largest private commercial banks, was established in 1993 by the International Company for Finance and Investments (ICFI), a private Russian financial group. Unexim is owned by ICFI and over 30 large Russian industrial and foreign trade companies. It specializes in providing trade finance and related services to primarily export-oriented companies and has recently began to develop its project finance operations. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of equity and loan financing for private sector projects in developing and emerging economies.
