UNIBANK AND EBRD SIGN TWO CREDIT AGREEMENTS
The micro-finance credit line should be used to finance SME (small and medium enterprises) projects and micro-projects. Each direction will cost $1 mln. The credit line that the EBRD is extending towards the co-financing project will enable UniBank to lend money towards the costs of major projects at par. It means UniBank will cover 50% of every loan from its own resources and will draw the rest from the EBRD credit line. Faig Huseynov, Chairman of the Executive Board of UniBank, said: ‘The extension of the two EBRD credit lines to UniBank is of great importance to us. One of the biggest challenges that the Bank faces today is to develop the retail services, of which micro-lending is an inseparable part. Therefore, the fact that UniBank has been awarded a micro-finance credit line signifies a serious step taken towards solution of a whole range of relevant issues. Besides, micro-finance is of interest to us from the point of view of wider coverage of the market segment including personals who are engaged in business enterprising. I should note that it is planned to set up a special unit as well as to obtain technical support from the EBRD with the purpose of spending this credit line up. In addition, KfW has provided UniBank with the technical assistance concerned with this project through the medium of the German-Azeri Fund. As regards the co-finance credit line, the related project is a new solution to the finance market of Azerbaijan. This credit line will help us finance major projects to the extent from which we would otherwise be fended by the standards of the National Bank of Azerbaijan. Besides, we now can act as a co-lending partner of the EBRD. On the whole, I should like to say that UniBank has a long enough history of successful partnership with the EBRD. Counting the already mentioned ones, UniBank is in receipt of five credit lines from the EBRD. We were awarded the first credit line of $1.5 mn for the SME in 2002; this credit line was doubled in 2003. In addition, we are in receipt of the EBRD credit line of $1.5 mn for trade financing. The EBRD was one of the parties providing UniBank with the syndicated loan equalling $5 mn - something unique to the local finance system. The share of the EBRD in the syndication equalled $1.5 mn and the rest came from a number of other European banks. In addition, UniBank was nominated at the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as the Azeri bank developing most actively under the Trade Financing Facility of the EBRD in 2003. Such a reputable international financial periodical as The Banker put UniBank in the top ten of the 50 most rapidly developing banks in the countries of operations of the EBRD’.
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