PSB to launch cooperation with IFC under IFC Global Trade Finance Program

On June 18, PSB and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, signed a US$50 million trade finance guarantee facility agreement.

The agreement was signed in Saint Petersburg. The signing ceremony was attended by Rashad Kaldany, IFC Vice President for Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and Snezana Stoiljkovic, IFC Director for Central and Eastern Europe , on behalf of IFC, and Alexander Levkovskiy, President on behalf of PSB.

«We highly appreciate this agreement, which is a starting point for a broad-scale and mutually beneficial cooperation between PSB and IFC», said PSB President Alexander Levkovskiy.

Launched in 2005, IFC Global Trade Finance Program has been supporting international trade in the world's developing markets, as well as facilitating trade between developing countries. Under the Program, IFC provides full or partial trade guarantees and covers trade transaction risks of 180 issuing banks in 72 countries. The Program enables issuing banks to ramp up volumes and extend trade financing maturities on competitive terms.

PSB is a market leader in the international trade finance market in Russia. According to SWIFT, the share of letters of credit issued by PSB in 2009 was 10.63% of the total number of L/Cs issued by Russian financial institutions. PSB has been participating in the EBRD Trade Finance Program since 2004.

About Promsvyazbank

OJSC Promsvyazbank, founded in 1995, is one of the leading privately-owned Russian banks, with total assets of RUB 471.2 bn, and total capital of RUB 51.8 bn under IFRS as of 1 January 2010. Holding company Promsvyaz Capital B. V. owns 72.93% of the Bank, Commerzbank Auslandsbanken Holding AG, a subsidiary of the second-largest German bank Commerzbank AG, has a 15.32% stake, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development owns the remaining 11.75%. PSB has the following international credit ratings: “Ba2” from Moody’s Investors Service and“B+” from Fitch Ratings. As at 1 April 2010, PSB had a network of about 240 points of sale in Russia, including 48 branches, a foreign branch in Cyprus, and representative offices in China, India and Ukraine. Upon completion of accession to OJSC Promsvyazbank of OJSC Volgoprombank and OJSC Nizhny Novgorod in May 2010, the Promsvyazbank Banking Group comprise OJSC Promsvyazbank itself as the parent credit institution and OJSC Yarsotsbank. http://eng.psbank.ru/