EDB Provided Loan to Belarusian Bank for Financing Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
Moscow, 7 December 2010. On Monday in Minsk, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) signed a five-year loan agreement with Belpromstroibank for a total of $25 million for financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Belarus.
The financing will be provided under the EDB’s ongoing Programme of Support of Small and Medium- Sized Businesses by Providing Target Facilities to Financial Institutions.
Belpromstroibank will independently select SMEs sub-borrowers which meet the criteria agreed with the EDB and provide them with target loans for business development.
The project will assist the creation of a favourable climate for the sustainable development and competition of Belarusian SMEs and enhancing their competitiveness domestically and internationally, and strengthen the infrastructural and institutional bases of the market economy of Belarus.
On 3 November 2010 the EDB and Belpromstroibank signed preliminary terms of the facility for financing SMEs, which were reiterated in the above agreement.
Last summer Belarus joined Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Armenia and became the fifth member of the EDB. At the same time the EDB and the Government of Belarus entered into an agreement on the Bank’s presence in the country.
Summary
Belpromstroibank is one of the oldest and largest banks of Belarus. It was founded in 1923 as a branch of the Industrial and Building Bank of the USSR. This Belarusian branch engaged in all banking operations and services relating to investment, production, procurement and sales. In September 1991 this branch became a joint-stock commercial bank, and in March 1992, following public subscription, it became an open joint-stock company. In October 1999 the company was renamed Belpromstroibank. In December 2009 Sberbank of Russia acquired a large stake in Belpromstroibank, which was later increased to 97.42%. Belpromstroibank is a system-forming bank of Belarus and maintains a strong presence in all banking segments. Belpromstroibank ranks third in the country in terms of assets, loan portfolio and equity capital size.