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Funds to Help DeltaLeasing Expand Outreach to Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
Moscow, Russian Federation, May 16, 2002
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The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and DeltaLeasing signed today an agreement on a US$10 million loan provided by the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. The recipient of the loan, DeltaLeasing, is Russia’s leading provider of leasing services to small and medium-sized enterprises, operating in 20 regions of the Russian Federation, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Capital Management, Inc./The U.S. Russia Investment Fund.
Ritva Laukkanen, IFC’s Manager of the Central and Eastern Europe Department, said that “For the last five years IFC has provided considerable technical assistance to help grow leasing in Russia through its Leasing Development Group. IFC has focused on developing leasing as it is one of the most effective ways to provide financing to small and medium-sized businesses. IFC’s credit line will be used by Russian businesses to upgrade capital assets and improve their competitiveness. Moreover, through IFC’s financing, DeltaLeasing will channel lease finance to support viable enterprises in economically important but underserved regions in the Russian Federation.”
In recent years, the leasing industry in Russia has quickly grown into a viable financing instrument for local enterprises requiring medium to long-term funding to replace or upgrade their production facilities.
“DeltaLeasing is proud to be at the forefront of the leasing sector and an active participant in the IFC’s Leasing Development Group. Today’s loan agreement is a further extension of our ongoing partnership with the IFC. DeltaLeasing will use these funds, together with the $10 million received from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development earlier this year, to further bolster our service to the small and medium-sized business community ,” said Nikolai Zinoviev, general director of DeltaLeasing.
DeltaLeasing provides US dollar-indexed leases of $25,000-$500,000 in local currency for a maximum of five years. The company has developed close relationships with over 100 vendors of western equipment that offer DeltaLeasing’s finance product to successfully developing Russian SMEs. DeltaLeasing has over $20 million outstanding in lease receivables diversified over 200 clients from more then 20 industries, ranging from wood processing and furniture manufacturing to printing and label production, packaging and food production.
Through its Leasing Development Group, IFC has provided considerable technical assistance to help grow leasing in Russia, advising the Russian Government in improving the legislative and economic environment for these operations, conducting an extensive national training program, as well as providing one-on-one consultations to leasing companies, among other actions. The Leasing Development Group played a key role in supporting efforts to amend the Law on Leasing, and also publishes an annual Market Survey and the bi-monthly Leasing Courier. This pioneering leasing development project has been possible with the generous financial support of the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom.
The International Finance Corporation’s mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing 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, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. Since its founding in 1956, IFC has committed more than $31 billion of its own funds and arranged $20 billion in syndications for 2,636 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC's committed portfolio at the end of FY01 was $14.3 billion. The IFC website is
www.ifc.org
. In Russia, the IFC has been active in the leasing sector since 1997, and the Russian Leasing Development Group, funded by the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom, is one of the leading sources of training, consultation and information for participants in the sector. The Leasing Development Group also played a key role in successfully amending the Law on Leasing to benefit all industry participants. The website for the Leasing Development Group is
www.ifc.org/russianleasing
.
DeltaLeasing provides US dollar-indexed capital leases of $25,000-$500,000 in local currency for a maximum of five years. The company has strong regional presence through its offices in Rostov, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and St. Petersburg. Over 75% of all DeltaLeasing customers represent businesses employing less than 100 workers. The DeltaLeasing website is
www.leasing.ru
.
Delta Capital Management, Inc. manages The U.S. Russia Investment Fund ,a leading private equity fund dedicated to developing and financing start-up and emerging growth companies. Delta Capital has invested over $180 million in Russian companies, mainly in the financial services, TMT (telecommunications, media and technology) and consumer products sectors. Established in 1995, the US-Russia Investment Fund was funded by the US Congress through grants from USAID. The Delta Capital website is
www.deltacap.ru
.
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