Baku, Azerbaijan, March 17
Trend:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided the second senior loan of EUR 20m to AccessBank. The loan will be utilized by AccessBank to provide financing to small and medium enterprises in Azerbaijan. Since AccessBank is a leading bank in Azerbaijan specialized in providing financial services to local micro and SME businesses in the country, that transaction will further support the development of private sector.
“We highly value the support of the EIB who has been a close partner of us since it launched its operations in Azerbaijan in 2014,” AccessBank’s CEO Michael Hoffmann said. “In the light of the current challenging economic environment the transaction is an important signal of trust and confidence from the side of the EIB in our Bank and reflects that AccessBank enjoys strong support of its international partners.”
The issued loan contributes to the objectives of the EIB External Lending Mandate, which focuses on the development of the local private sector, in particular support to SMEs, as well as social and economic infrastructure and climate change.
AccessBank was founded in 2002 by organizations such as the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, EBRD, IFC, KfW, a German consulting company LFS Financial Systems (LFS) and AccessHolding. AccessBank – one of the leading banks of Azerbaijan, offers a full range of banking services and has an extensive branch network. The Bank’s international IDR credit rating remains unchanged at the sovereign level of BB+ (FitchRatings) which is the highest rating among commercial banks in Azerbaijan.