Business news
EBRD loans for Belarusian SMEs via Idea Bank
MINSK, 7 July (BelTA) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide up to €7 million to the Belarusian bank Idea Bank for the sake of lending to small and medium businesses, BelTA learned from the EBRD representative office in Belarus.
“More and more Belarusian private banks become our partners in lending to small and medium enterprises in the country. It is important from the point of view of developing the banking industry. The territorial structure of Idea Bank in Belarus should also be conducive to the development of small enterprises,” said Francis Delaey, head of the EBRD office in Belarus.
Idea Bank specializes in providing financial support to over 800,000 clients, including micro, small and medium enterprises in Belarus. EBRD representatives believe that with its developed system of outlets the bank is quite capable of providing extended lending terms to SMEs.
According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Belarusian small enterprises account for about 23% of the national GDP, which is more than that in neighboring countries such as Russia or Ukraine.
The EBRD is one of the main investors in Belarus. As of 1 June 2015 the EBRD’s investments in Belarus exceeded €1.7 billion. The money has been poured into the development of over 70 projects. Most of them are implemented in the private sector.
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