IFC and Eurasian Development Bank Further Expand Finance Opportunities in Emerging Markets
Moscow, Russia, 14 March 2011. Today, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) signed Master Cooperation Agreement, which makes it easier for the EDB to co-finance projects in emerging markets with IFC.
The agreement standardises steps that lenders take when joining IFC to co-finance projects, increasing efficiencies and thereby cutting costs to borrowers and lenders throughout the life of a loan. IFC created the agreement in response to calls by G20 nations for increased collaboration among international financial institutions to help meet private sector financing shortfalls during the global financial crisis.
IFC mobilises funding from other financiers to meet the needs of private sector clients. Lenders who adopt the Master Cooperation Agreement will benefit from IFC’s existing syndication platform, deal-structuring expertise, due diligence, and global presence.
“IFC and the Eurasian Development Bank share a mission of supporting economic development and cross-country economic ties in the region,” said Snezana Stoiljkovic, IFC Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “Global and regional financial institutions need to work together to make a real difference, and this agreement will allow us to get funding more quickly where it’s needed.”
“This agreement is a new step in our cooperation with IFC,” said Igor Finogenov, Chairman of the Executive Board of EDB. “It will add momentum to our efforts to support the development of the key economics sectors in our member countries, in particular, infrastructure and finance. The Master Cooperation Agreement will let this work be optimised."
The EDB became the tenth development finance institution to adopt IFC’s Master Cooperation Agreement. The other signatories are Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), France’s Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique (Proparco), Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG), Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij Voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTD), Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB) and Arab Petroleum Investments Corp (APICORP).
In its last fiscal year ending 30 June 2010, IFC mobilized $2 billion through loan syndications for projects in emerging markets, including $734 million (37%) through 14 syndicated parallel loans for projects from international financial institutions. In fiscal 2009 the share of loans from international financial institutions accounted for 17% of $2.2 billion that IFC mobilized through loan syndications. In the first half of fiscal year 2011 which ended 31 December 2010, IFC mobilised $672 million through 11 syndicated parallel loans to emerging market borrowers, 45% of them to borrowers in the poorest countries.
At the end of 2010, the EDB’s key performance indicator, investment portfolio, totalled nearly $2,208.8 million – an increment of $887.2 million or 67.1% over 2009. The Bank’s assets totalled $2,552,593 thousand. Loans to clients totalled $820,953 thousand – an increment of $211,969 thousand or 34.8% over 2009. The Bank’s equity totalled $1,663.5 million.