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Russia’s Sberbank, EDB to grant $1 bln loan to Belarus

Russia’s Sberbank (Savings Bank) and Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) will grant a one-billion U.S. dollar loan to Belarus

MINSK, November 18 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s Sberbank (Savings Bank) and Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) will grant a one-billion U.S. dollar loan to Belarus.

The Belaruskali company will be the borrower.

The related agreement was signed by Sberbank CEO German Gref, EBD Executive Board Igor Finogenov and Belaruskali Director General Valery Kiriyenko In Minsk on Friday.

Before the signing of the document, Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich said, “the activities, which lasted almost four years, have reached the final stage.”

Earlier, the presidents of the two countries – Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan – signed important documents for the Common Economic Space.

“Stars help us to achieve our goal,” the prime minister said.

The Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial organisation that was instituted by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006.

The bank is headquartered in Almaty and has its branch in St. Petersburg.

The bank was established in order to promote the development of market economy in the member countries, their sustainable economic growth and enhancement of trade and economic contacts between them.

The bank should become one of the key financial instruments in Eurasia and an effective mechanism for the development of cooperation between its member countries in order to enhance integration processes and level up the social and economic development in the EurAsEC member states.

The Eurasian Development Bank’s chartered capital exceeds 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.

The bank is interested in the increase of its members as a way to expand EDB investment projects, which meets the EDB’s strategic tasks.

The EDB investment portfolio (which is one of the major indicators of the bank’s activity) almost neared 2,208.8 million U.S. dollars by the end of 2010.

As of January 1, 2011, the EBD total assets were estimated at 2,552.6 million U.S. dollars, while the total amount of loans granted to the bank’s clients exceeded 820.9 million U.S. dollars.

In June 2009, member states of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund (ACF) appointed EDB manager of the ACF and signed a respective agreement with the Bank. The EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund worth over 8.5 billion U.S. dollars was established by governments of six countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. ACF’s main goals are to assist member countries in overcoming the consequences of global financial crises, to ensure their long-run economic and financial stability and to foster economic integration in the region.