Kyiv, Ukraine, October 2, 2009
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $20 million trade finance guarantee to Ukraine’s OTP Bank to help the bank expand its foreign trade financing and increase access to finance for private sector businesses.
OTP Bank is Ukraine’s third commercial bank to join the IFC Global Trade Finance Program as an issuing bank. The bank will have access to the program’s global network of more than 170 issuing banks and over 180 confirming banks.
“Ukraine’s economy is export-driven and IFC’s trade finance program will help us expand foreign trade and support our customers’ international transactions, thus playing a vital role in the country’s economic recovery,” said Dmitriy Zinkov, OTP Bank Chairman.
Through the trade finance program, IFC provides partial or full guarantees for individual trade transactions and covers the payment risk of issuing banks in various countries. It allows issuing banks to increase the volume and value of trade transactions, with enhanced tenors and access to competitive pricing terms.
“We are pleased that another Ukrainian bank will benefit from IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program,” said Elena Voloshina, IFC Country Representative in Ukraine. “IFC financing will help facilitate trade flows, enabling local small and medium businesses to reach new customers and new markets. OTP Bank is our long-standing partner in Ukraine and we are glad to continue cooperating.”
In July 2009, IFC provided a $40 million trade finance guarantee to the JSC State Export Import Bank of Ukraine to support its foreign trade operations. In 2008, IFC provided a $30 million trade finance line to Ukraine’s Raiffeisen Bank Aval under the Global Trade Finance Program.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About OTP Bank
OTP Bank is a public joint-stock company, headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine. The bank is a universal fully operating bank with over 150 branches and banking units throughout the country. It was established in 1998 as a Ukrainian subsidiary of a foreign bank. Since 2006, OTP Bank JSC has been a 100 percent subsidiary of OTP Bank Plc, Hungary. OTP Group is one of the largest financial groups in Central and Eastern Europe. For more information, visit
www.otpbank.com.ua
.
