Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, November, 9, 2010
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has partnered with VAB Bank to help small and medium businesses in Ukraine increase efficiency by improving their ability to manage risk and reduce operational costs. This work is part of IFC’s larger effort to help facilitate a post-crisis recovery in Ukraine.
In September 2009, VAB joined IFC’s Crisis Response Advisory Program in Europe and Central Asia. Now, IFC, with support from the Swiss Confederation, is expanding the advisory program to include VAB’s SME clients. To date, IFC has trained 25 VAB corporate clients on best practices business strategy development. In the next six months IFC and VAB plan to deliver nine workshops in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Odessa to train approximately 200 SME representatives.
“IFC’s support is significant because of their deep expertise in the crisis mitigation and risk management improvement, in Ukraine and globally. We have a common goal to expand access to finance for small and medium enterprises in order to help them improve operations,” said Oleksiy Salivon, VAB Bank Deputy CEO, Head of the Corporate Business Department of the bank. .
“Following the financial crisis, well-structured businesses have an advantage in today’s marketplace. That’s why we cooperate with VAB bank to contribute to build local capacity and improve efficiency of the Ukrainian market,” said Olena Prokopovych, Ukraine Project Team Leader of IFC’s Crisis Response Project.
IFC’s Crisis Response Advisory Program in Europe and Central Asia was launched in 2009 in partnership with the Swiss Confederation. The program has delivered training to over 1,000 senior and middle-level banking professionals and businesses, disseminating good practice on risk management, cost reduction, debt restructuring.
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. 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
.
About VAB bank
VAB bank has been active on the country’s financial market since 1992. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, it belongs to the group of large financial institutions. Its regional network is represented by 150 branches throughout Ukraine. The major international company TBIF Financial Services B.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) is a VAB Bank majority shareholder. As of July 1, 2010 the bank’s regulatory capital amounted to UAH 888.7 million and the size of its net assets was UAH 7.1 billion. For more information, visit
www.vab.ua
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