OREANDA-NEWS. On October 30, 2007 Bank Vozrozhdenie closed a US$ 53 million Syndicated Trade Related Term Loan Facility with a group of foreign banks. The margin of the two year loan was set at 1.20% p.a. above LIBOR, and was significantly below the 1,80% p.a. in the Bank’s initial 364-day syndicated loan placed in March of this year, reported the press-centre of Bank Vozrozhdenie.

“We regard this as a very good result, in spite of the difficult market conditions.” said Nikolai Orlov, Vice Chairman of BANK VOZROZHDENIE. “Although this was below the targeted amount of US$ 60 million, our goal was more focused on obtaining funding at the initial price, set before the international funding crunch, than the amount raised. This will allow us to continue to increase our support for both retail and corporate clients by maintaining excellent growth in our loan portfolios. We would like to thank the Mandated Lead Arrangers and participating banks for their recognition of our creditworthiness.”

Landesbank Berlin AG and UniCredit Group (acting through Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG and Closed Joint Stock Company International Moscow Bank), leaders of the first syndication were joined by ICICI Bank UK PLC in arranging this loan facility provided by 10 bank participants. The loan will support the Bank’s continued growth in trade finance. The loan facility was signed on October 29, 2007.

The following financial institutions joined the syndicate:
Senior Lead Arrangers
COMMERZBANK Aktiengesellschaft

Arrangers
AKA Ausfuhrkredit-Gesellschaft m.b.H.

Lead Managers
Latvijas Hipoteku un zemes banka, State Joint Stock Company
NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT (UK) LIMITED

Manager
Citi
Swedbank
VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG

"We do well understand that the current market circumstances led to a reconsideration of the lending policy of some market participants. Nevertheless, BANK VOZROZHDENIE was perceived by market participants as a borrower with a convincing story.” Syndications Director Ralf Schuster commented.

Monika Alram, Loan Syndication Austria & EEMEA at UniCredit Markets and Investment Banking added: “Especially under the prevailing market conditions we appreciate the result of the transaction.