Uralsib Bank to Attract USD 20 Million Syndicated Loan

The management of the Ural-Siberian Bank (Uralsib) have announced that they intend to attract a new USD 20-million syndicated loan, which will be arranged by London-based Standard Bank and the Moscow National Bank. According to Uralsib's public relations department, the loan is predicted to have an annual interest rate of 3.5%. The loan is planned to be for 364 days, with an option to extend it. Uralsib has also signed a credit agreement with the AKA Ausfuhrkredit-Gesellschaft consortium of German banks worth EUR 3.149 million, which is valid for 5 years. The loan will be guaranteed by German export credit agency Hermes for supplying equipment produced by Dorst Maschinen- und Anlagenbau & Co. to the SOK Group, a group of companies operating in the automobile industry. The loan will be refinanced by Deutsche Bank, with which Uralsib has a long-standing partnership.

At the end of 2001 Uralsib received an unsecured syndicated loan worth USD 20 million from a number of European banks. The loan was also for a period of 364 days. This was the first unsecured loan given to a Russian bank after the crisis of 1998. In August 2002 the bank attracted another USD 33 million from a syndicate of European banks. According to Uralsib's PR department, the funds were used to finance promising projects by the bank's clients.

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