The Moscow-based International Investment Bank (IIB) announced on August 9 that it has signed off on its debut credit facility in Hungary.
The Russian-led IIB decided around five years ago to turn around the moribund development bank, whose activities had tailed off since the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. Hungary applied to join regional peers in the IIB in late 2015.
The deal hands Hungary’s major commercial lender TakarekBank credit of up to HUF4bn (€13mn). The goal of the facility is “to support the expansion of the IIB’s portfolio of lending in Hungarian forint,” the development bank said. The credit line has a tenor of three years.
Following an IIB council meeting in Romania in June, and the adoption of the bank's Bucharest Strategy, the IIB has stepped up its activities in Hungary, and claims to have already signed a number of deals.
The transaction with TakarekBank, the umbrella bank for Hungary’s saving cooperatives network, will lead to a strong and promising relationship with Hungarian financial institutions, the IIB statement reads.
Founded in 1970, the IIB's current shareholders include Bulgaria, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Vietnam. The bank has undergone major modernisation since late 2012 and is rated ‘BBB’ (outlook stable) by S&P, ‘Baa1’ (outlook positive) by Moody’s, ‘BBB’ (outlook stable) by Fitch and ‘A’ (outlook stable) by Dagong.
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