Moscow, Russia, March 28, 2012
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Credit Europe Bank (CEB) have signed an agreement that will help smaller businesses in Russia connect with international customers and suppliers, spurring trade and economic growth.
IFC is providing the bank with a $10 million guarantee through its Global Trade Finance Program, which helps expand private sector access to global import and export markets.
“We very much welcome cooperation with IFC,” said Haluk Aydinoglu, President of CEB. “The IFC Global Trade Finance Program will expand our capacity to finance the foreign trade transactions of our customers and connect us to the global network of participating partner banks.”
Scott Stevenson, Senior Manager of IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program, said, “Trade helps expand economic ties between Russian firms and their foreign partners, supporting economic growth and job creation. We see significant potential to further expand of our program in Russia in partnership with Credit Europe Bank.”
IFC’s trade finance program in Russia has provided $397 million in guarantees covering 164 transactions during the last year. Since its inception in 2005, IFC’s award-winning Global Trade Finance Program has issued more than 11,000 guarantees, totaling $15.8 billion, in emerging markets. In the 2011 fiscal year, 53 percent of trade financing guarantees went to support trade in the world’s poorest countries, and 79 percent went to small and medium enterprises. The program includes more than 200 partner banks in over 90 emerging-market countries.
The initiative is part of IFC’s efforts in Russia to support private sector development and encourage economic growth. The country became a member and shareholder of IFC in 1993. Since then, IFC has invested almost $6 billion in Russia, including $1.5 billion in syndicated loans, and is involved in 250 projects across a variety of sectors. IFC’s investment portfolio in Russia stands at $2.54 billion, the third-largest country exposure for IFC globally.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
About Credit Europe Bank
Credit Europe Bank (CEB) is part of FIBA Group, a financial conglomerate which operates in 12 countries. CEB is a subsidiary of Credit Europe Bank NV, Amsterdam, the 10
th
largest bank in the Netherlands, and is supervised both by the Dutch Central Bank and the Central Bank of Russia. CEB was established in 1997 and today ranks as 49
th
largest Russian bank in terms of assets size. The bank has more than 4,500 employees working in over 120 branches in Moscow and Russia’s biggest regions.
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