Bank of Georgia signs financing package with EBRD

5th Jun 2013 10:59

FTSE 250-listed Bank of Georgia has signed a loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for 10.0m dollars under the EBRD's Caucasus Energy Efficiency Programme (CEEP). The loan has a maturity of five years and Bank of Georgia, the holding company of JSC Bank of Georgia, said it would be used for on-lending to private sector entities with a view to finance energy efficiency and rational energy utilization investments. The bank said that technical cooperation and grant support for the operation had been provided by the Austrian Government and the European Union through the Neighbourhood Investment Facility and would fund technical assistance and incentives to end-borrowers. EBRD would also facilitate the launch of International Factoring, by providing a €10.0m facility under its Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) to the bank. Irakli Gilauri, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Georgia, said: "As the first Georgian bank to introduce factoring product to the Georgian market in 2007, I am very pleased that the launch of International Factoring within the EBRD's TFP will allow Bank of Georgia to expand the range of the products offered to its corporate clients and will contribute to the expansion of international trade operations of the bank". Bruno Balvanera, EBRD Director for Caucasus, Moldova and Belarus, commented: "EBRD is delighted to work with its long-standing partner bank to continue to finance the real economy, particularly, the energy efficiency lending."Bank of Georgia's share price was down 1.72% to 1,827p at 11:29 on Wednesday.MF