Azerbaijan based microfinance institution TBC Kredit received $3.5M loan from EBRD and TaiwanICDF

US$ 3.5 million loan to microfinance institution TBC Kredit

27-8-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending US$ 2.5 million to TBC Kredit LLC for on-lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Azerbaijan. A further US$ 1 million for on-lending to MSMEs will be provided by TaiwanICDF (International Cooperation and Development Fund), through their contribution to the EBRD-managed Financial Intermediary Investment Special Fund. The facility will help TBC Kredit to expand and diversify its loan portfolio, as well as offer much needed medium-term funding to individual entrepreneurs and local enterprises.

The loan to TBC Kredit falls under the EBRD’s Azerbaijan Financial Sector Framework and aims to satisfy the growing demand for financing from MSMEs in the country while facilitating competition in the financial sector.

TBC Kredit was established on 7 December 1999 as the non-banking credit organisation SOA Kredit LLC. In December 2007, TBC Bank, Georgia, acquired a 75% stake in SOA Kredit and the organisation was re-registered on 28 July 2008 as TBC Kredit LLC. TBC Kredit is currently the third-largest microfinance institution by assets in Azerbaijan. The above facility will be the second credit line issued to the company by the EBRD.

“One of the EBRD’s main priorities in Azerbaijan is to continue strengthening financial intermediation in private sector with particular focus on micro-, small and medium-sized businesses. The new credit facility to TBC Kredit is also expected to facilitate competition especially in micro-finance sector which remains concentrated and increase quality of the financial intermediation in gerneral,” said Neil McKain, Head of the EBRD Resident Office in Baku.

The EBRD has been active in Azerbaijan since the country’s independence. To date the Bank has invested over US$ 2.1 billion in various sectors of the Azeri economy, mobilising an additional US$ 7 billion from other sources of financing. The EBRD focuses on supporting the development of local enterprises and financial institutions and specifically seeks to promote a competitive, transparent and fair business environment in Azerbaijan.

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