OREANDA-NEWS. April 05, 2011. AccessBank has received the first tranche of USD 10 million from FMO and OeEB under a USD 20 million syndicated loan.

AccessBank reports that today it announced about receipt of the first tranche of USD 10 million under a USD 20 million syndicated loan arranged by The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) with participation of the Austrian Development Bank (OeEB), with each institution contributing USD 10 million. This three-year loan, as was the case with all loans received by AccessBank from foreign investors, will be directed to financing micro and small businesses across Azerbaijan.

FMO’s CEO Nanno Kleiterp said: “This debt facility provides Access Bank with the possibility to expand their business. It will strongly contribute to the further economic development of Azerbaijan”.

“By partnering with AccessBank, OeEB can increase the availability of financing for Azerbaijani small and medium businesses, thereby supporting the creation of jobs and economic growth,” said Andrea Hagmann, a member of the OeEB Executive Board.

Austrian and Dutch ambassadors to Azerbaijan, Sylvia Maier-Kajbic and Arjen Uijterlinde respectively, joined together to welcome the announcement: “We are delighted that, with this funding, our countries are helping to support the development of small business in Azerbaijan and the diversification of the economy”.

AccessBank general manager Andrew Pospielovsky, thanking the FMO and OeEB, said: “This is the first funding we have received from FMO and OeEB and it will allow the bank to expand its financing of small business, especially in the agricultural sector and across the regions of Azerbaijan”.

AccessBank is 100% foreign owned by six shareholders: the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, KfW Development Bank – the Development Bank of the German Government (20% share each), AccessHolding - a strategic investor in microfinance (16.5%), and LFS Financial Systems (3.5%).

The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) is the entrepreneurial development bank of the Netherlands. FMO invests risk capital in companies and financial institutions in developing countries. With an investment portfolio of ? 4.6 billion, FMO is one of the largest bilateral private sector development banks worldwide. Thanks in part to its relationship with the Dutch government, FMO is able to take risks which commercial financiers are not - or not yet - prepared to take. FMO’s mission: to create flourishing enterprises, which can serve as engines of sustainable growth in their countries (www.fmo.nl).

Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) has been operating as the official Development Bank of Austria since March 2008. It is specialized in the provision of long-term finance for the implementation of private sector projects in developing countries which create sustainable development. OeEB provides tailor-made financing solutions for a diverse set of long-term investments that would otherwise find it difficult to raise funding or borrow money in international capital markets. Additionally OeEB provides Technical Assistance (Advisory Programmes) which can be used to enhance the developmental impact of projects (www.oe-eb.at).