The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based international finance institution, has distributed a loan equivalent to USD 10 million to the Kyrgyz arm of UniCredit Bank, which is based in Italy and has operations in 22 countries, for lending to micro-small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Category: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe Lends $20m to ProCredit Bank Georgia for Microfinance, SMEs
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, has reported to MicroCapital that it has made a loan amounting to EUR 15 million (USD 20.7 million) to ProCredit Bank Georgia (PCBG).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Lends $8.2m to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) FINCA DRC, Bandhan of India, Opportunity Microcredit Romania
Switzerland’s responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility) recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made loans amounting to USD 8.2 million to microfinance institutions (MFIs) FINCA DRC of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bandhan of India and Opportunity Microcredit Romania (OMRO).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Investment Fund Lends $1.3m to Microfinance Institution Societatea de Microfinantare Rurala FAER to Support Microenterprises in Romania
The European Investment Fund (EIF), a public-private partnership that supports financial institutions in Europe that serve small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has agreed to provide a senior loan of RON 4.2 million (approximately USD 1.3 million) to Romanian microfinance institution (MFI) Societatea de Microfinantare Rurala FAER Institutie Financiara Nebancara SA (FAER IFN) through the European Progress Microfinance Facility (Progress Microfinance).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Georgia’s Crystal Receives $2m in Equity from Unnamed Microfinance Investment Vehicle Managed by Developing World Markets
An unnamed microfinance vehicle managed by Developing World Markets (DWM), a US-based asset manager and investment bank, has made an equity investment of USD 2 million in Joint Stock Company Microfinance Organization Crystal (JSC MFO Crystal), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Georgia that aims to reduce poverty by providing financial services to low-income people [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EU Pledges Additional €5m to EBRD’s Small Business Programmes in Eastern Europe
The European Union (EU) has committed an additional EUR 5 million (USD 6.9 million) to the UK-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for its “TurnAround Management” (TAM) and “Business Advisory Service” (BAS) programs in the Eastern Partnership region [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: responsAbility Invests $5.5m in Microfinance Institutions TBC Kredit of Azerbaijan, Kazmicrofinance of Kazakhstan; Microfinance Investment Vehicle ACCION Investments in Microfinance
responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt and equity investments totaling the equivalent of USD 5.5 million in two microfinance institutions (MFIs), TBC Kredit of Azerbaijan and Kazmicrofinance Limited Liability Company (KMF) of Kazakhstan, and microfinance investment vehicle ACCION Investments in Microfinance, which was established by US-based nonprofit ACCION International [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Center for Financial and Credit Counseling of Bosnia Offers Debt Mediation, Financial Education to Microfinance Clients
The Center for Financial and Credit Counseling (CFKS), a nonprofit established in 2010 in the Bosnian city of Tuzla, has been set up to counter the negative impact of over-indebtedness through financial education, counseling, mediation and debt resolution.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Lends $3m to Araratbank of Armenia for Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Microfinance
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based development finance institution, announced recently that it will lend USD 3 million to Araratbank, an Armenian bank that provides services primarily to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), as part of a USD 12 million financial package [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Incofin Lends $3.6m to Microfinance Institutions Finance for Development of Azerbaijan, Asian Credit Fund of Kazakhstan, Kompanion of Kyrgyzstan
Belgian company Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) has recently disbursed loans through microfinance investment funds it manages to three microfinance institutions (MFIs): USD 800,000 to Azerbaijani Finance for Development (FinDev), KZT 44 million (approximately USD 305,000) to Kazakh Asia Credit Fund (ACF) and USD 2.5 million to Kyrgyz Kompanion.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) Loans $8m to Mikrofin Banja Luka of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ProCredit Bank Macedonia to Support Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments totaling EUR 6.5 million (USD 8.7 million) in two banks to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs): Mikrofin Banja Luka (Mikrofin) of Bosnia and Herzegovina and ProCredit Bank Macedonia [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Lends $6.7m to Sparkasse Bank BiH of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Support Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a London-based development finance institution, will be lending EUR 5 million (approximately USD 6.7 million) to Sparkasse Bank BiH to support Bosnia and Herzegovina’s preparation for possible membership in the European Union (EU).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB) to Invest $10m in Inecobank to Develop Small and Medium Enterprises in Armenia
Armenian microfinance bank Inecobank is set to receive a loan of USD 10 million through a joint agreement with German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG) and Austrian development bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) in an effort to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Armenia.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Works With African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank to Plan Expansion to Support Emerging Arab Democracies
In a recent statement, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution, announced that it has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the African Development Bank (AfDB), a multilateral financial institution based in Tunisia, and the Islamic Development Bank, a development finance institution based in Saudi Arabia, to outline how the institutions would cooperate in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region as EBRD extends its operation in the region to support the emerging Arab democracies [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), FMO of the Netherlands, Bank im Bistum Essen eG of Germany Syndicate $8m Loan for Bank Eskhata of Tajikistan For Microfinance, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
Bank Eskhata, a commercial bank located in Tajikistan, will receive a USD 8 million syndicated loan funded by three European financial institutions: the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO in Dutch), a public-private partnership, will provide USD 5 million; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution, will provide USD 2 million; and Bank im Bistum Essen eG (BiB), a German cooperative bank, will provide USD 1 million.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Loan $10m to Metcombank of Russia for On-Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has agreed to loan RUB 300 million (USD 10.3 million) to Joint Stock Company Metallurgic Commercial Bank (Metcombank), a private Russian lender.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Loan $4m in Local Currency to Microfinance Institution (MFI) Kompanion of the Kyrgyz Republic
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution based in the United Kingdom, has agreed to make a three-year loan of KGS 180 million (USD 4 million) in Kompanion Financial Group Microfinance Closed Joint Stock Company, a Kyrgyz microfinance institution (MFI).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Survey by National Partnership of Microfinance Market Participants, Russian Microfinance Center Indicate Russian Microfinance Market Grew 13% During First Quarter of 2011
A joint survey conducted by two Russian associations of microfinance stakeholders, the National Partnership of Microfinance Market Participants and the Russian Microfinance Center indicates that non-banking microfinance institutions (MFIs) posted improvements in nearly all primary financial indicators during the first quarter of 2011.