Bashkortostan Administration Receives USD 15-Million Loan from HSBC

The Bashkortostan government has signed a credit agreement with British bank HSBC for a one-year loan worth USD 15 million. According to the press office of the Russian republic's government, the agreement was signed on Friday, March 14. The loan is to be used to finance investment projects in the republic.

At the signing ceremony Richard Tickner, the Chief Executive of HSBC in Russia, said that the British bank sees the agreement as a continuation of its cooperation with Bashkortostan. This cooperation began in 1997, when HSBC loaned USD 25 million to the Ural-Siberian Bank (then known as Bashkreditbank). In 1998 HSBC signed an agreement to lend the Bashkortostan government USD 45 million. The funds were used to provide credit to the real sector of the region's economy. Bashkortostan is currently the only Russian region working with Britain's leading bank.