OREANDA-NEWS. Strategic Partnership Agreement was signed by Sberbank CIB1 and Etalon Group. The agreement is valid until 2024 and was signed by Alexander Bazarov, Senior Vice-President, Member of the Board of Sberbank of Russia, Acting Head of Sberbank CIB and Anton Evdokimov, CEO of Etalon Group CJSC. It provides for cooperation in such areas as project lending, financing of investment deals, mortgage lending to individuals, joint public-private partnership projects, and joint industrial and infrastructure projects.

Cooperation with Sberbank CIB on public-private partnerships will improve the situation surrounding the construction of social and utility infrastructure and help find ways to cooperate with government agencies. Etalon Group is already planning to construct RUB 2.4 bln worth of social facilities by 2018. In addition, the partnership between Etalon Group and Sberbank CIB will give foreign industrial companies operating in Russia an opportunity to develop their business. It is expected that over the next 10 years of cooperation between the two companies a number of mortgage lending projects for individuals will be carried out. The parties have already signed a number of project financing agreements totalling RUB 7.6 bln for Etalon Group's major Moscow Region project "Izumrudnye Kholmy".

Etalon Group is one of Russia's largest real estate companies. The Group is a leader among construction companies in St. Petersburg, one of the top ten companies in terms of housing construction in Russia, and is actively increasing its share of the Moscow and Moscow Region market.

Etalon Group includes 65 enterprises that carry out the full cycle of the investment and construction process: development, design, land use development, production of building materials, construction, and real estate management. Since its founding, Etalon Group has put into service more than 160 residential and commercial buildings with a total area of over 4 mln sq. m.

As of December 31, 2013 the Group's portfolio included 28 developer projects in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the Moscow Region. It plans to complete projects with an area of almost 3.5 mln sq. m.

One of its key areas of activity is industrial construction: the Group's companies participated in the construction of "ExpoForum" Congress and Exhibition Centre, the reconstruction of the "Admiralty Shipyards" workshops, and the building of factories for Nissan and General Motors, as well as other major industrial objects.

In 2011 Etalon Group successfully held an IPO of global depository receipts (GDR) and was listed on the London Stock Exchange. During the IPO the Group raised more than 500 million US dollars, the majority of which was then used to acquire new and develop existing projects in St. Petersburg, Moscow and the Moscow Region.