The FINANCIAL — ProCredit Bank Georgia and the German Development Bank KfW entered into a loan agreement in the amount of USD 47.5 million. The loan has a five year maturity and will be disbursed in the beginning of 2009. It is the single largest loan ever disbursed to ProCredit Bank Georgia, and will be used to grow the loan portfolio to very small, small and medium size enterprises in Georgia in 2009.
“The credit line, which we signed today with KfW and OeEB is a serious contribution to the additional funding, which we need to grow our loan portfolio to very small, small and medium size businesses in the coming year”, Philipp Pott, General Director of ProCredit Bank Georgia.
As of the third quarter of 2008 ProCredit Bank’s assets totalled USD 432 million, with more than 220,000 clients.
“The large size of the loan shows the confidence our partners have in our bank, in our customers and in the Georgian economy as a whole.”
“KfW is pleased to contribute to the stability of and trust in the Georgian financial sector – especially in these difficult times, Georgia and the world are facing. With ProCredit Bank Georgia, KfW has cooperated already for many years and values the bank as an extraordinary reliable and trustworthy partner in the joint promotion of very small, small and medium enterprises in Georgia’s urban and rural areas. Furthermore we regard the cooperation with OeEB as an excellent starting point for future collaboration for the benefit of Georgia and other transformation countries,” Roland Siller, First Vice President for Europe and Caucasus, KfW.
KfW Bankengruppe is one of the ten biggest banks in Germany and is AAA-rated.
OeEB, the official Development Bank of Austria, acts on behalf of the Federal Government. It is specialised in realising private-sector projects that require long-term financing and that can service their borrowings out of their own cash flow and have a sustainable impact on the regional economic development. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (OeKB), it is a private financial entity with a public mandate. At the same time, it benefits from the network and international know-how of OeKB Group.
“This credit line to ProCredit Bank in Georgia in cooperation with KfW represents our kick-off project in this region and we are confident that many more will follow. Despite the current tensions that can be witnessed in the financial sectors all over the world and in Georgia, we trust in the capability of the Georgian financial sector to stabilize itself and – with our contribution to this sizeable loan – want to actively promote the reconstruction of the Georgian economy after August’s conflict,” Andrea Hagmann, Member of the Board, OeEB.
