Washington, DC/Moscow, Russian Federation, May 30, 2002
Peter Woicke, head of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Managing Director of the World Bank Group, started today a two-day visit to Russia, to meet government and business leaders in order to reaffirm IFC’s continued commitment to private sector development in the country.
IFC, the private sector development arm of the World Bank Group, has worked actively to support the development of a strong private sector in Russia since it became a member in 1993. IFC has invested over $136 million in equity and provided loans totaling $448 million to the private sector in Russia, as well as mobilizing $110 million from other sources of financing.
During his visit, Peter Woicke will meet key government officials, including the Advisor to President Vladimir Putin, Andrei Illarionov; the Minister of Finance, Alexei Kudrin; the Deputy Chairman of the Government, Victor Khristenko, and the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, German Gref. Mr. Woicke will also meet IFC clients and members of the local business community.
In his meetings, Peter Woicke plans to discuss IFC’s role in supporting government efforts to deepen economic reforms and encourage further development of the private sector. Key IFC priorities in Russia include developing and strengthening financial institutions, attracting foreign investment and technology, working with local partners to improve transparency and corporate governance, and expanding efforts to improve the business environment, particularly for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs).
IFC investment activity in Russia spans across a wide range of sectors, including mining, food processing, pulp and paper, manufacturing, oil and gas, power, telecommunications, retail trade, health care, banking, leasing and housing finance.
The Corporation has been actively involved in the development of the Russian financial sector since the early 1990’s, and helped set up several private equity funds and credit lines to finance small and medium size enterprises (SMEs).
Recent investments include Probusiness bank, Russian Standard Bank, and Delta Credit Bank in Moscow, and NBD Bank in Nizhny Novgorod. In trade finance, IFC recently approved a loan to establish, with West LB, a pre-export financing facility for Russian companies.
IFC’s investments in both real and financial sectors are usually accompanied by hands-on technical assistance provided through the Private Enterprise Partnership (PEP), an IFC-managed, donor-funded technical assistance program directed toward local enterprises in Russia and Eastern Europe. The objective of this approach of combining investments with a package of technical assistance is to promote institutional development and help rebuild confidence in the sectors.
IFC’s mission (
http://www.ifc.org/
) is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses.
Since its founding in 1956, IFC has committed more than $31 billion of its own funds and arranged $20 billion in syndications for 2,636 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s committed portfolio at the end of FY01 was $14.3 billion.
