OREANDA-NEWS. February 09, 2011. Last year the Bank issued more than Rb 7.3 bn to Russia’s small business community, upsizing its SB credit portfolio by over 90%. As of year-start 2011 Uniastrum Bank small business portfolio totaled Rb 8.84 bn. Today the lender’s SB client base numbers more than 2,000 enterprises, up 64% in 2010, reported the press-centre of Uniastrum Bank.

Building on their working relationship and joint plans to implement a government-sponsored program aimed at supporting small and midsized business owners, in late 2010 Uniastrum and the Russian Bank for Development inked a new agreement under which SME meeting RBD eligibility criteria can take out loans at 12.5% APR.

Conspicuous advantages of Uniastrum’s SB lending programs include generous repayment periods of up to 10 years, a maximum loan cap of up to Rb 50 mn, and, for businesses lacking sufficient collateral, an opportunity to secure loan guarantees from the Small Business Credit Assistance Fund. Meantime, the Bank continues its active cooperation with foundations assisting small and medium-sized enterprises in 32 regions nationwide. The year 2010 saw Uniastrum sign new agreements with 15 regional funds, guaranteeing SME borrowers a total Rb 430 mn. Last year over 400 loans were given out, amounting to around Rb 1.5 bn.

“Even though the SB finance market has yet to shake off the last remnants of the recent recession, in 2010 Uniastrum Bank achieved impressive results in this segment,” notes Svetlana Chubakova, Uniastrum’s Vice-President for Small Business Development. “In 2011 we plan to more than double the size of our SB credit portfolio.”