OREANDA-NEWS. Bank CenterCredit JSC (Almaty), whose securities are officially listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), has provided KASE with the following information statement:

... European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided to Bank CenterCredit (BCC) a loan to the amount of 10 billion tenge for 5 years, including a two-year grace period, for lending to micro-, small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). More than 60 percent of the loans will be designated to financing of projects outside of Astana and Almaty.

BCC and EBRD on December 23, 2014 concluded a loan agreement on attracting two tranches KZT5 bn each for 5 years. The first tranche was received by BCC on January 20, 2015.

The loan was disbursed under a guaranty from Entrepreneurship development fund "Damu" and will be accompanied a by a program of technical support from EBRD for purpose of further strengthening of internal potential of BCC in the field of lending to SMB.

The loan to BCC is the first project under the new program of EBRD for support of SMB in Kazakhstan to the amount of USD200 mln (Program). The funds will be distributed in tenge through local banks, micro-finance organizations and leasing companies. Special attention will be paid to projects in rural areas, where the access to the long-term financing of SMB is limited. The program will be accompanied by technical support specially designed with account to individual needs of each financial institution participating in the Program.