OREANDA-NEWS. June 25, 2013. Sberbank of Russia and the European Investment Bank have signed an agreement on the financing of Sberbank loans for small and medium businesses at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Under the agreement Sberbank will be able to attract funding for the equivalent of 300 million Euros for up to 10 years for the purpose of refinancing its loan portfolio to small and medium-sized businesses as part of a special program.

Sergey Gorkov, Deputy Chairman of Sberbank of Russia signed the agreement on behalf of Sberbank of Russia and Anton Rop, Vice-President, signed on behalf of the European Investment Bank.

Sergey Gorkov commented on the signing, said, "This credit agreement is a further step in the practical implementation of the Cooperation Agreement, signed in November 2012 between Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank, and Herman Gref, President, Chairman of the Board of Sberbank. We now intend to implement a number of joint projects in Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Hungary and other countries in which Sberbank operates”.

Anton Rop said: “I am delighted to sign today this first operation with Sberbank in Russia for supporting in particular Russian micro-SMEs. By joining forces with Sberbank with its unparalleled branch network, the EIB can effectively contribute to improving the access to financing for thousands of micro-SMEs throughout the Russian Federation, which will support the diversification and modernisation of the Russian economy. This operation also paves the way to a broader co-operation between the EIB and Sberbank in Russia and other countries of common interest.”