OREANDA-NEWS. September 28, 2012. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko suggested moving cooperation between Belarus and Sberbank of Russia onto a higher level in a meeting with Chairman of the Board of Sberbank German Gref.

“We have agreed to meet in some time and make proposals on new variants of cooperation in order to move this cooperation onto a higher level,” the head of state said.

The President said that he is ready to discuss all the proposals. “If they are acceptable for us, we are ready to meet such giant as Sberbank of Russia halfway,” he said.

Alexander Lukashenko also took note of the fact that Sberbank had chosen Belarus to conduct forums for its subsidiaries. “To some extent it testifies to the trust in our country,” the head of state said.

German Gref, in turn, expressed gratitude to the Belarusian side for vibrant cooperation over the past years. “The plans we envisage through 2014 and which are stipulated in the bilateral investment agreement will be almost reached this year, two years ahead of the deadline we have set,” he said.

The meeting focused on a wide range of issues regarding Sberbank’s work in Belarus, the application of new technologies and services in the banking sector. “Our presence is strong in the country today. The aggregate volume of loans provided by Sberbank over the past three years exceeded USD 11 billion. We have opened USD 6.5 billion worth of credit lines to the country,” German Gref said.

Sberbank of Russia has confirmed the refinancing of the USD 1 billion loan issued to the Belarusian company Belaruskali. The parties also discussed the role of Sberbank in the implementation of various investment projects. One of the largest projects is the one to mine a potash deposit in Belarus.

German Gref thanked Alexander Lukashenko for the support provided to Sberbank in Belarus. “We report very good results for our business,” he stressed.

Sberbank of Russia is a robust international financial organization. It has branched out into 18 countries . The subsidiary network of Sberbank consists of 17 territorial banks and over 19,000 offices in the Russian Federation. Affiliated banks of Sberbank of Russia operate in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. There are representation offices in Germany and China and a subsidiary in India. As for market capitalization, Sberbank of Russia is among top 20 banks in the world.