OREANDA-NEWS. August 24, 2009. The meeting of the Supervisory Board of RBD was held chaired by Member of Board, Deputy Chairman of Vnesheconombank Mikhail Kopeikin, reported the press-centre of RBD.

During the meeting the members of the Supervisory Board of RBD discussed issues of the selection of credit applications from the banks to participate in the new SME lending support program which was launched in June. At that high topicality of the program among credit institutions was recognized – RBD received applications for lending to SMEs in 73 RF member entities. SMEs in the Kabardino-Balkarskaya Republic and the Astrakhan Oblast are already receiving funds under the Program. Moreover in the nearest future the lending support will be received by entrepreneurs in the Republic of Adygeya, the Leningrad and Magadan Oblasts and the Karachaevo-Cherkesk Republic.

At the same time credit institutions, regional administrations and NGOs submitted some proposals dealing with participation of a number of regional banks in the Program. Given the analysis of the applications and in order to implement the program in all regions of the Russian Federation the Supervisory Board of RBD decided to update financial criteria for selection of the counter-party banks. Thus the requirement to the size of risk weighted assets was reduced from RUR 2 billion to 1.75 billion, the limit of the maximum level of overdue debt on loans to SMEs equal to 8% was replaced by the limit of the level of the overdue debt on the whole loan portfolio in the amount not more than 12%.

Besides the standards of lending to SMEs under the program were updated at the meeting as well as a procedure for refinancing of loans provided by credit institutions to entrepreneurs thereby enabling more regional banks to participate in the new Program and considerably enlarge SME lending in the RF regions.

Normative document with the above mentioned amendments regulating the Program’s implementation will be published on the RBD web-site (www.rosbr.ru).