OREANDA-NEWS. April 30, 2008. The EBRD is providing a \\$65 million subordinated loan to CJSC OTP Bank Ukraine, a fully owned subsidiary of Hungarian OTP Bank Plc. This loan will help one the largest domestic banks develop its regional network and increase its lending activity to small and medium-sized businesses, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

The project supports a strong and rapidly developing subsidiary of an eastern European banking group, OTP Group, which is very active in EBRD’s countries of operation. It fully corresponds to the EBRD strategy for the banking sector in Ukraine and supports OTP Bank Ukraine’s regional market expansion in SME lending, competition outside Kiev as well as cross-border cooperation. In particular, with the help of this loan, OTP Bank Ukraine is planning to increase its network of branches in Ukraine to 340 by 2010.

This project is yet another example of the excellent cooperation between the EBRD and OTP Group in the region through a number of different transactions, the first of which was signed in 1996.

OTP Bank is one of the largest Ukrainian banks and a universal financial institution providing a complete range of financial services to private individuals, corporate clients as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. OTP Bank enjoys leading positions in domestic corporate business lending. It has earned a reputation as an innovative bank with business volume that is constantly growing and which offers the highest quality services to its customers. The bank currently provides services to more than 250,000 clients through a network of 167 outlets across Ukraine.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine. As of April 2008, it had committed over ?3,3 billion through more than 163 projects.