Moscow , Russia, May 25, 2011
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is investing $75 million in Orient Express Bank to support the Russian bank’s efforts to develop new areas of business and consolidate small and medium banks operating in remote and frontier regions of Russia.
“This investment from IFC is a sign of our bank’s solid strategy and its commitment to further growth,” said Sergey Vlasov, Chairman of Orient Express Bank’s Management Board. “IFC’s finance and international expertise will add momentum to our growth and help us develop and expand new, modern financial products for our clients.”
With this investment IFC will also help the bank expand its lending program to small and micro businesses, including energy efficiency finance products.
“By supporting this systemically important bank operating in Russia’s less-developed regions, we demonstrate our role as a development institution,” said Snezana Stoiljkovic, IFC Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “Orient Express Bank operates in frontier regions of the country, where access to finance is critically important for people and businesses, and we believe in the bank’s long-term perspectives and business strategy.”
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. We create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We do so by providing financing to help businesses employ more people and supply essential services, by mobilizing capital from others, and by delivering advisory services to ensure sustainable development. In a time of global economic uncertainty, our new investments climbed to a record $18 billion in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About Orient Express Bank
Orient Express Bank is one of the leading retail commercial banks in Russia. Orient Express is currently the second largest retail bank after Sberbank in Siberia and the Far East of Russia, and the fourth largest commercial bank by branch network size, expanding rapidly both organically and through acquisitions. The bank opened over 190 new branches in 2010 and also acquired assets of Morgan Stanley’s Russian mortgage subsidiary and Santander’s Russian car loan subsidiary. Orient Express Bank increased its total assets in 2010 by 70 percent to $3 billion at year-end.