OREANDA-NEWS. August 21, 2009. A regular meeting of the Russian Development Bank’s Supervisory Board was held. The meeting was chaired by the Russian Development Bank’s Supervisory Board Chairman, Management Board Member – Vnesheconombank Deputy Chairman Mikhail Kopeikin.

The Russian Development Bank’s Supervisory Board reconsidered the criteria for selecting partner banks for participating in the State Program of Providing Financial Support for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. The Program is being implemented by Vnesheconombank through the Russian Development Bank. The requirement for the amount of banks’ risk-weighted assets was reduced from 2 billion rubles to 1.75 billion rubles. The maximum bad loan limit of banks under credits extended to small and medium-sized enterprises in the amount of 8% was replaced with a bad loan limit of no more than 12% with regard to banks’ entire loan portfolio.

The meeting also revised standards for financing small and medium-sized enterprises under the Program and the scheme for refinancing portfolios of loans extended by credit institutions to businessmen thus allowing a great number of regional banks to participate in the new Program to significantly expand lending to small and medium sized enterprises in the Russian regions.

As of today, the Russian Development Bank received applications for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in 73 regions of the Russian Federation. Under the Program, small and medium-sized enterprises are already receiving funds in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and the Astrakhan region. In the near future, financial support will be provided to businessmen in the Adygei Republic, the Karachaevo-Circassian Republic, the Leningrad and Magadan regions.

The said changes are to be included in the regulatory documents that regulate the Program’s implementation.