OREANDA-NEWS. October 30, 2007. LOCKO-Bank and the National City Bank signed a USD15 million 7-year Term Loan Agreement for the purpose to expand LOCKO-Bank’s SME lending portfolio. The Loan Agreement was signed during the IMF/WB Annual Meeting in Washington by Mr. Mikhail Pavlov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of LOCKO-Bank and Mr. Robert Count, Senior Vice President of National City International. The loan will be granted under a partial guarantee from OPIC, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an agency of the United States of America. The proceeds of the loan will be used for further development of LOCKO-Bank’s SME lending program through its network of regional branches.

LOCKO-Bank became the first Russian bank to obtain an OPIC guaranteed SME loan from the National City Bank that according to Mikhail Pavlov shows a high level of trust in LOCKO-Bank's ability to continue successful business development in its strategic business.