Washington, D.C., April 13—
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today announced its first investments in Mobiasbanca, one of the leading commercial banks in Moldova serving more than 50,000 customers, including small and medium enterprises and retail and corporate clients.
IFC will provide a $7 million financing package to the bank consisting of a $5 million loan for on-lending to small and medium businesses and a $2 million trade finance guarantee facility under IFC's Global Trade Finance Program.
IFC’s loan will help Moldova’s fifth-largest bank increase its volume of financial services to small and medium enterprises, which often lack access to long-term funding. Mobiasbanca is the first bank in Moldova to join the IFC trade program, which provides guarantee coverage of bank risk in emerging markets.
Martin Kimmig, IFC’s manager, field and portfolio for Southern Europe and Central Asia Region, Global Financial Markets Department, who attended a signing ceremony in Moldova, said “IFC’s loan will help strengthen Moldova’s banking sector by supporting a bank that has a good track record of providing a range of loan-based and fee-based products to corporate and retail clients. Just as important, making trade financing more widely available to Mobiasbanca and its clients underscores IFC's commitment to supporting Moldova's international and interregional trade activities.”
Nicolae Dorin, the Chairman of the Administrative Board of Mobiasbanca said, “We are delighted to establish this strategic partnership with IFC and look forward to furthering it in the future. Co-operation with IFC will allow us to considerably broaden the access of our clients to long-term financing—up to six years—and thus satisfy the permanently growing investment appetite of Moldovan enterprises.”
Mr. Dorin added, The Global Trade Finance Program will enlarge the bank’s opportunities to issue documentary instruments confirmed with the world leading banks for the term up to 18 months. So, by expanding our base of international partners Mobiasbanca continues to improve the quality and availability of the bank services to its clients”.
Shahbaz Mavaddat, IFC’s acting director for Southern Europe and Central Asia, commented from Istanbul, “IFC’s investment and the trade finance guarantee will directly support the sustainable growth of smaller businesses in Moldova. This is in line with IFC’s strategy to assist Moldovan banks that focus on lending to small and medium enterprises, which are key drivers for private sector development and employment generation.”
IFC's Global Trade Finance Program provides risk mitigation for trade and trade-related transactions involving banks in the emerging markets. Using IFC guarantees, participating banks can expand the volume and tenor of trade finance transactions within an extensive network of correspondent banks. Since the Global Trade Finance Program launched in September 2005, IFC has issued more than $100 million in trade guarantees for more than100 transactions.
About IFC
The International Finance Corporation is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. IFC coordinates its activities with the other institutions of the World Bank Group but is legally and financially independent. Its 178 member countries provide its share capital and collectively determine its policies.
The mission of IFC is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing and transition 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, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY05, IFC has committed more than $49 billion of its own funds and arranged $24 billion in syndications for 3,319 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY05 was $19.3 billion for its own account and $5.3 billion held for participants in loan syndications. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
Moldova joined IFC in 1995. Since then IFC has invested $97 million in the country, including $25 million in syndicated loans across a variety of sectors. As of December 2005, IFC’s investment portfolio in the country had reached $42 million, of which $13.7 million is in the financial sector. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org/eca
.
About Mobiasbanca
Mobiasbanca was founded in 1990 and today ranks fifth by total assets among Moldovan banks. Headquartered in Chisinau, Mobiasbanca serves corporate and retail clients through a network of 13 branches and 46 representative offices. Mobiasbanca is a broad-based bank that has traditionally provided corporate banking services for larger firms but has increasingly focused on the small and medium enterprise and retail segments during the past two years.
