OREANDA-NEWS  On 07 November was announced, that Raiffeisen Leasing Aval (RLA), the leader of the Ukrainian leasing market, received a USD 75 million loan facility from its Austrian ultimate owner Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG (RZB). The transaction has been registered by the National Bank of Ukraine and will be disbursed over the next two months.

In line with the Raiffeisen Group’s leasing strategy, the credit funds will be mainly invested into technological and agricultural equipment, as well as commercial vehicles to be leased to local companies.

"The current economic challenges in Ukraine have not changed the Raiffeisen Group’s positive view of the catch-up process of the country. The replacement of outdated equipment is now more needed than ever, and this will make for the country’s recovery from the financial crisis", said Peter Oberauer, RLA’s General Manager. "We see our role as a strategic partner of Ukraine’s leading companies in the sphere of financing new investments", he added.

LLC Raiffeisen Leasing Aval is the Raiffeisen Group’s leasing entity in Ukraine. It was founded in June 2006 as a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank Aval (60%) and Raiffeisen-Leasing International GmbH, Vienna, (40%). Both shareholders are subsidiaries of Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG, who's majority shareholder is RZB.

According to the IFC’s annual market survey, with new business amounting to USD  160 mn in 2007, the company ranked first among all the universal leasing companies at the market.