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Moscow, November 15, 2004
– The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group, signed an agreement to provide a $7 million loan to Sibacadembank, a private Russian bank based in Novosibirsk and active in lending to small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurs and individuals. IFC’s loan will support the bank’s lending activities, further its regional expansion and strengthen its market position in Siberia.
Prior to this $7 million loan, IFC provided technical assistance to the bank to improve the bank’s risk management practices and support its organizational development. The technical assistance program was funded by IFC’s Norwegian Trust Fund.
Edward Nassim, IFC's Director for Central and Eastern Europe, commented during the signing ceremony in Moscow, “We hope that this loan agreement will strengthen our cooperation with Sibacadembank. IFC has been quite selective in choosing its partners in the banking sector in Russia and this transaction reflects the successful development of Sibacadembank in recent years."
Andrei Bekarev, General Director of the Sibacadembank commented: “We believe that the loan agreement we signed today is a beginning of long-term partnership with IFC which may involve other forms of financing. We are pleased to begin cooperation with IFC which is one of the most reliable financial institution in the world and we believe that this cooperation is a recognition of Sibacadembank’s performance and results.”
Sibacadembank
(
www.sibacadem.ru
) was established in Academgorodok, Novosibirsk by Research Institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Siberian Branch) in 1990.
For the past 14 years, Sibacadembank has developed into a leading regional bank. The bank now has complete package of banking licenses and a strong regional network which allows the Bank to offer a complete range of banking services to more than 13,000 legal entities and more than 1,000,000 individuals.
Sibacadembank is expanding the area of its operations in Siberia. The Bank's 70 divisions are situated in Russia’s seven regions (Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Omsk, Tomsk Regions, and Krasnoyarsk and Altai Krays).
Sibacadembank is in the top 100 of Russian banks ranked by assets and is one of the national leaders in retail banking in terms of deposits and consumer lending.
An essential part of Sibacadembank strategy is development of relationships and cooperation with international financial institutions.
International Finance Corporation (
www.ifc.org
).
Russia joined IFC in 1993. Since then through the end of June, 2004, IFC has committed $1.8 billion, including $210 million in syndicated loans, to finance 91 projects across a variety of sectors. IFC’s investments spread across the country’s most important sectors including banking, leasing, housing finance, infrastructure, mining, agribusiness, pulp and paper, construction materials, oil and gas, telecommunications, information technologies, retail, and health care.
The International Finance Corporation is a member of the World Bank Group. IFC’s mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in transition economies, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the emerging markets, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY04, IFC has committed more than $44 billion of its own funds and arranged $23 billion in syndications for 3,143 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY04 was $17.9 billion for its own account and $5.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
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