OREANDA-NEWS. June 25, 2013. On the site of the St.-Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sberbank of Russia and the leading Middle Eastern banking group Emirates NBD Bank PJSC (“Emirates NBD”) signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

The document reiterates the parties’ intention to develop the cooperation between Sberbank Group and Emirates NBD across various business lines, including debt capital markets, investment banking, corporate banking, credit lines, trade finance, correspondent banking, etc.

On behalf of Sberbank, the Memorandum was signed by Deputy Chairman Andrey Donskih and on behalf of Emirates NBD Group, Mr Mohammad Kamran Wajid, CEO Emirates Financial Services PSC and Emirates NBD Capital Limited (the investment banking arms of Emirates NBD Group) signed the document.

Upon the signing Andrey Donskih said: "The Memorandum which we have signed already has a good business foundation: a few days ago we closed a deal of USD 300 million loan by Emirates NBD to Sberbank. We will use these funds to support our client’s business with partners in the Middle East. For Sberbank this is a new international market and we consider it to be important both to diversify our investor base and to offer our clients new opportunities on capital markets".

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Mohammed Kamran Wajid stated: "Emirates NBD has been the pioneering institution from Middle East in terms of doing business in Russia and the CIS region. The cooperation and relations between Emirates NBD and Sberbank represents a natural alliance between the two institutions which are considered as the leading financial services powerhouses in their respective home markets. We consider Russia and CIS an attractive and important growth market, and we will continue to work closely with our valued partners like Sberbank in acting as an intermediary and financial conduit, bringing together clients and investors from the Middle East and Russia and CIS. Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Sberbank represents a key milestone in what we expect will be a strong, diverse and long term relationship spanning diverse areas of cooperation".