OREANDA-NEWS. The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has signed an agreement to provide a five-year USD 10 million loan facility to BelVEB Bank (Belarus) for the purposes of trade finance.

The loan will be used to finance foreign trade transactions of this bank's clients in the EDB member states. The loan from EDB will enhance the external sources of finance for BelVEB Bank's clients engaged in foreign trade.

In addition, the project will help expand mutual trade between the EDB member states and deepen integration between them. The agreement sets forth that BelVEB Bank will use at least 80% of the loan to finance trade transactions between the EDB member states.

EDB is implementing the project with BelVEB Bank in accordance with its Programme for the Development of Trade Finance Instruments and the Enhancement of Mutual Trade between the EDB Member States, adopted in 2010.

Belvnesheconombank OJSC (BelVEB Bank) was established in 1991. This is a full service credit and financial institution and one of the largest banks in Belarus. BelVEB Bank has leading positions in the banking sphere in terms of export and import transactions and foreign trade finance and serves as a clearing centre for most of Belarusian banks' payments in foreign currencies and the main operator for the CIS and Baltic banks' payments in Belarusian roubles. The bank's strategic shareholder (97.52% of shares) is the Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank).

Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. EDB's charter capital exceeds USD 1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.