OREANDA-NEWS. Sberbank of Russia and Hines Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement during the 19th annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. On behalf of Sberbank the agreement was signed by Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank and Head of Sberbank CIB1 Oleg Ganeev, and on behalf of Hines Group by Senior Managing Director Lee Timmins.

The agreement envisages the development of strategic cooperation between Sberbank of Russia and Hines Group in a number of areas including financing by Sberbank for Hines projects. Another important area of cooperation is providing financial and consulting services in investment banking, which will be provided by Sberbank CIB, the corporate investment business of Sberbank. In particular the parties agreed to look at possibilities to provide consulting services to help Hines Group implement its strategy for residential and commercial real estate markets, as well as organize access to deals on capital markets for the bank.

"This agreement will provide a solid base for successful and fruitful cooperation between the two market leaders," said Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank and Head of Sberbank CIB Oleg Ganeev. "At this stage we are planning to finance Hines Group's major high-quality residential and commercial real estate projects, including a large development project on the Leningrad Highway near to Moscow's Voykovskaya metro station, and take part in financing the construction of Kievsky Highway retail complex near Vnukovo airport. The fact that this major US fund is ready to invest in new projects in Russia, both in the commercial segment and residential real-estate, is an important signal for all market participants. I am sure that the signing of this agreement will lead to new interesting high-quality projects and large-scale cross-border transactions."

"The strategic cooperation agreement signed between our companies establishes an excellent framework for expansion and growth of the mutually beneficial relationship already established by Hines Group and Sberbank of Russia," said Senior Managing Director and CEO of Hines Eurasia Lee Timmins. "Debt financing will be instrumental in growing Hines' business in Russia. Cooperation with the market leading financial institution coupled with equity investments made by Hines Investment Funds will provide a solid base for developing international quality landmark real estate projects on the Russian market."