SOURCE: FMO
Original Press Release available here.
MINSK, October 6 – On October 6th the first bank dedicated to serving the needs of micro and small business in Belarus, Belarusian Bank for Small Business (‘BBSB’) was officially opened. Representatives of shareholding companies, government officials, business people and entrepreneurs from seven countries attended the opening ceremonies.
BBSB was founded last year by FMO, EBRD, IFC, KfW, Swedfund, Commerzbank and Shorebank/ Shorecap and formally received its banking license in August of this year. The bank will open from two locations in Minsk and will expand into all regions of Belarus within the first five years. The main focus of the Bank is to support development of small businesses in the Republic of Belarus by providing a range of banking services to sole proprietors, micro, small and medium sized businesses.
Starting October 2008 the Bank will offer a broad range of banking services, including attracting deposits from legal entities, disbursing loans, opening and servicing bank accounts for legal entities, conducting settlement and cash services for individuals and legal entities including corresponding banks, and conducting foreign exchange operations. Factoring, issuing bank guarantees and payment cards will also start in the near future.
Representatives of the Shareholders made speeches and answered journalists’ questions at the press-conference which took place at the International Educational Center (IBB) in Minsk.
The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) is the international development bank of the Netherlands. FMO invests risk capital in companies and financial institutions in developing countries. FMO’s investment portfolio is EUR 3.4 billion, FMO is one of the largest bilateral development banks worldwide. Thanks in part to its relationship with the Dutch government, FMO is able to take risks which commercial financiers are not – or not yet – prepared to take. FMO’s mission: to create flourishing enterprises, which can serve as engines of sustainable growth in their countries.
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