Azerbaijan, Baku, June 28 / Trend, E. Aliyev /
Azerbaijani Unibank and the German Investment Corporation DEG signed a contract on Thursday to extend the subordinated loan worth $15 million for six years.
The document was signed by Unibank chairman Faiq Huseynov and DEG board member Philip Creutz.
Huseynov said at the signing ceremony that the allocated funds will be used for micro-financing and supporting small and medium-sized businesses.
"We have been cooperating since 2005," Huseynov said. "DEG then became one of the shareholders of the bank, by acquiring a 8.33 per cent stake. We signed a loan agreement in 2008, which is now extended for another six years. We have funded more than 100 projects during these years through the funds received from DEG. We consider the German corporation as a reliable partner and look forward to continuing and expanding the cooperation in the future."
DEG board member Philip Creutz stressed that the bank is a development bank, rather than a commercial institution.
"We are always looking for partners who share our vision and values," Kreutz said. "Our priority is the long-term partnership and we are happy to continue cooperating with Unibank."
At present, there is an increase in the banks' deposit portfolio in Azerbaijan and Unibank he reached the highest in the history of the bank's activity level - 300 million manat.
Unibank was established on October 15, 2002 as a result of the merger of two private commercial banks in Azerbaijan, Mbank and Promteshbank. Unibank is a universal financial and credit institution rendering retail and corporate services. Among shareholders of the bank are the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (15.1515 per cent) and the German Investment Corporation DEG (8,3333 percent).
The rest equity in the capital has been distributed among shareholders-residents as follows: Eldar Garibov owns 50.8083 percent, Igor Yakovenko - 17.5301 percent, Zemfira Jafarova - 5.5 percent, minority shareholders - 2.6767 percent.
The official exchange rate is 0,7845 AZN/USD on June 28.