The loan will support AccessBank to finance small and medium businesses
Baku, Finance Time. AccessBank has signed a USD 15m loan agreement with the TheBlack Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB). The facility will be used to finance projects for modernization, capacity expansion, diversification of products and services of industrial, agricultural and manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Azerbaijan, and their working capital requirements.
“We strongly welcome the support of our long-term partner BSTDB. The funds will be on-lend to the Bank’s SME clients and contribute in particular to the further development of the regional economy in Azerbaijan”, commented Michael Hoffmann, CEO of AccessBank on the transaction.
“Strengthened cooperation with AccessBank is contributing to the implementation of the BSTDB strategy in Azerbaijan to promote growth and diversification of the economy through investment and support to the small business development in the non-oil sector”, said Andrey Kondakov, BSTDB President at the signing ceremony, which took place during the Bank’s Annual Meeting in Sofia.
BSTDB is one of the founding shareholders of AccessBank, together with EBRD, IFC and other international investors. The new facility builds up on the successful cooperation between BSTDB and AccessBank launched in 2005. With a new credit line BSTDB extends to AccessBank for SME sector support, a total amount of financing brought to USD 37 million.
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution which supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, credit lines, equity and guarantees for projects and trade financing in the public and private sectors in its member countries. The authorized capital of the Bank is EUR 3.45 billion. BSTDB is rated long-term “A-” by Standard and Poor’s and “A2” by Moody’s. For information on BSTDB, visit www.bstdb.org.
AccessBank was established in 2002 by Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, EBRD, IFC, KfW, a German consulting company LFS Financial Systems GmbH and AccessHolding. AccessBank provides loans to micro and small businesses and has a wide network of branches in Azerbaijan employing more than 2000 people. Fitch Ratings assessed AccessBank as BB+, the highest credit rating among all banks in Azerbaijan.
