Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend I.Khalilova / On 31 October, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Azerbaijani UniBank, founded in 2002, met in Baku to sign an agreement on the allocation of a $35million syndicated loan.
The syndicate unites 14 banks, including the Anglo Romanian Bank, RZB Group, the State Bank of India, VTB Bank Europe, Indover Bank, Wachovia Bank, and ChinaTrust. The EBRD's share in the loan for UniBank is $8.75million, which is allocated for a three year-term. The remaining part of the loan was presented to the syndicate by banks for a term of 18 months, with a possible one and a half year extension. The rate for the second part of the loan is LIBOR + 3%.
According to Varel Friman, the EBRD First Vice President, this the third loan that the EBRD organized for UniBank and it expands the long-term cooperation with this bank. Positive changes have been observed in the Azerbaijani banking sector, enabling the increase in the amount of the loan for UniBank from $30million to $35million.
In his turn, Faik Huseynov, the chairman of the managing board, said that the loan is of great significance for the bank, because a definite instability has been observed in the international capital market and the granting of a loan shows great confidence by the EBRD, as well as the participants in the syndicate, towards the Azerbaijani banking sector.
Huseynov is sure that cooperation with the EBRD will be continued within the framework of small and medium scale business. With the consideration of this loan, the EBRD's portfolio for UniBank is $57million.