International Financial Corporation to Open USD 10 Million Credit Line for St. Petersburg's Industry and Construction Bank

The International Financial Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, has signed an agreement with St. Petersburg's Industry and Construction Bank (Promstroybank, or PSB) for the opening for the latter of a USD 10 million credit line for the term of 5 years. This is according to the Russian bank's press service. The money will be used to replenish the bank's circulating assets and for the mid-term financing of medium and small size companies that have accounts with the PSB. These client companies are based in Kaliningrad, the Krasnodar Territory, Moscow and other places in Russia and specialise in furniture production, meat processing, printing, etc.

According to Mikhail Oseyevsky, the First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the PSB, the opening of this credit line is a new sign of the renewed trust for Russia's banks on the part of international financial institutions. Edward Nasim, Director of the Department of Central and Eastern Europe and the head of the Moscow office of the PSB, said support for medium and small business played a certain role in assuring the stable economic growth of Russia and increased employment for the following years.

The objective of the PSB in Russia is investing in promising private companies. Since the corporation was founded in 1956 up to this day, the PSB has issued over USD 31 billion worth of loans out of its own funds and organised syndicated loans for a total over USD 20 billion to 2,636 companies in 140 developing countries. As of the end of the year 2001, the corporation's investment portfolio was worth USD 14.3 billion.

As of December 31, 2001, the positive balance of St. Petersburg's Industry and Construction Bank came to USD 121 million. The bank has 48 offices in 17 regions of Russia and, as of April 1, 2002, 67 corporate and 618 individual clients.