Washington, D.C., November 29, 2006
— The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will lend around 40 million euros to Finansbank Romania S.A. to enhance their ability to lend to Romania’s small and medium enterprises. These businesses traditionally have difficulty accessing long-term funds.
IFC’s financing for Finansbank includes a seven-year loan of 20 million euros and an additional tranche in Romanian currency. Finansbank is the Romanian subsidiary of the Turkish FIBA Group.
Shahbaz Mavaddat, IFC’s Director for Southern Europe and Central Asia, said, "Improving small and medium enterprises’ access to finance through an innovative private commercial bank is particularly important now, to help prepare this segment of Romania’s economy for competition within the European Union.” Romania will join the EU at the beginning of 2007. Mavaddat added, “IFC's support also contributes to further economic integration in Southeast Europe by assisting Turkey's FIBA Group in its regional expansion.”
IFC has agreed with Finansbank that the loans financed by IFC may only go to small and medium enterprises that comply with certain social and environmental standards. This excludes the financing of certain types of business, such as production of weapons.
“Our financing aims to encourage improvements of sustainable business practices by making the prudent management of social and environmental issues mandatory for Finansbank clients,” said Jyrki Koskelo, Director of IFC’s Financial Markets Department.
Finansbank’s General Manager, Tamer Ozatakul, said, “The loan agreement is part of an extended financing program to support our bank’s growth and implement development projects. Finansbank Romania, by winning IFC’s trust, has proved to be a prudent and reliable financial partner in Romania.”
Omer Tetik, Vice President of Finansbank, added, “This financing by a multilateral financial institution will help us offer longer-term financing to our clients. The local currency tranche of the loan is also a clear indication of the growing confidence of foreign investors in Romania’s currency and the country’s economic performance in the long term.”
About Finansbank Romania S.A.
The Turkish FIBA Group acquired Banca de Credit Industrial si Comercial S.A. in 2000 to form Finansbank Romania S.A. Finansbank today has a 1.3 percent market share in Romania as measured in total assets. It provides a wide range of products, including corporate and retail banking services tailored to small and medium enterprises through its 60 branches across the country. Finansbank Romania reported a net profit of RON 8.01 million (EUR 2.24 million) in the first half of 2006, a 75 percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier. For more information, visit
www.finansbank.ro
.
About IFC
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral provider of financing for private enterprise in developing countries. IFC finances private sector investments, mobilizes capital in international financial markets, facilitates trade, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to businesses and governments. From its founding in 1956 through FY06, IFC has committed more than $56 billion of its own funds for private sector investments in the developing world and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. With the support of funding from donors, it has also provided more than $1 billion in technical assistance and advisory services. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
