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Weekly economic review (April 7-11)

Analysis Materials 15 April 2014 11:32 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijani AccessBank draws $ 60 mln syndicated loan

The international investors are showing great interest and trust in Azerbaijani AccessBank, AccessBank chairman of board Michael Hoffmann said in Baku.

He made this statement during a loan agreement signing ceremony between AccessBank and a syndicate consisting of 17 banks, organized by Austrian Reiffeisen Bank International AG.

AccessBank will allocate a loan worth $ 60 million with an interest rate of Libor +3.25 percent as part of the agreement. The loan was delivered for one year and can be prolonged for another year if necessary.

"The fundraising procedure began in the first quarter of this year with the aim of borrowing $ 25 million," he said "But the investors' great interest has led to a great number of subscriptions. As a result, the credit line amount was increased up to $ 60 million."

"The important fact is that all participants of the syndicate are commercial banks," he said.

"For the first time, only commercial banks were borrowers as part of the syndicated loan," he added. "We are very pleased with the geographic coverage of the syndicate members. The banks from 11 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, CIS, Middle East and Asia are represented there. All 17 creditor banks are our new partners. The fact that the signing took place quite easily and at such a difficult time for the global economy testifies to the high level of the investors' confidence in AccessBank and in general, the banking sector and the economy of Azerbaijan."

"The raised funds will be used to finance the bank's activity in the current year," he said.

"Traditionally, our bank's activity is focused on the business financing, in particular small and medium enterprises," Hoffmann said.

AKA Ausfuhrkredit Gesellschaft mbH (AKA), Banca Transilvania SA, OJSCB Bank ZENIT, Burgan Bank S.A.K, Credit Europe Bank N.V., Sviaz-Bank, Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V., Baltikums Bank AS, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank Ltd. (London Branch), Eurocity Bank AG, KDb Bank Europe Ltd., Mega International Commercial Bank (Amsterdam Branch), Misr Bank-Europe GmbH, Siauliu Bankas AB, Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, Oberbank AG are the Azerbaijani bank's borrowers.

AccessBank was founded in 2002 by BSTDB, EBRD, IFC, KfW, the German consulting company LFS Financial Systems (LFS) and Access Holding.

The bank concentrates on lending to small and medium businesses. It has a wide branch network through Azerbaijan and employs 1,931 people. AccessBank is rated BB+ by Fitch Ratings, the highest rating among the Azerbaijani banks.

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