IFC Achieves Leasing Milestone in Azerbaijan
In Washington
Rita Jupe
Phone: +1 (202) 458-8967
Email: rjupe@ifc.org
Washington, D.C., December 27, 2005—The
International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World
Bank Group, will expand leasing opportunities for small and medium enterprises
in Azerbaijan by providing UniBank with a long-term loan of $5 million
and technical assistance.
The loan is the first leasing transaction by an international development
finance institution in Azerbaijan.
The loan will strengthen UniBank’s ability to meet the financing needs
of smaller enterprises—a vital engine of economic growth and major source
of employment in developing countries—and enable it to establish itself
as one of Azerbaijan’s leading players in the leasing market. Assets
financed by UniBank, and its leasing subsidiary UniLeasing, include trucks,
cars, minivans, and machinery as well as construction and production equipment.
As a participant in IFC’s technical assistance program, UniBank will benefit
from training in lease origination, underwriting, credit analysis, monitoring,
and risk management. The technical assistance is provided by IFC and funded
by the Swiss government.
The project is part of IFC’s Central Asia Leasing Facility. Within
this facility’s framework, IFC provides term funding and technical assistance
to strengthen the capacity of local financial institutions in Kazakhstan,
Azerbaijan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, and enables
them to originate leases for small and medium enterprises.
Shahbaz Mavaddat, IFC’s acting director of Southern Europe and Central
Asia, said, "One of IFC’s main objectives in Azerbaijan is to support
local financial institutions like UniBank to expand their leasing operations,
and so assist in the development of the country’s emerging small and medium
business sector, which is important for the further diversification of
the Azerbaijani economy in the non-oil sectors.”
Jyrki Koskelo, IFC’s director of Global Financial Markets, said, “The
UniBank transaction is a logical extension of the accomplishments of IFC’s
broader technical assistance program, which has helped create a transparent
and attractive legal and tax environment for leasing and increased public
awareness of this sector in Azerbaijan.”
Eldar Garibov, UniBank’s majority owner and chairman of UniBank’s Supervisory
Board, said, “UniBank is extremely pleased to partner with IFC. The confidence
placed in us by IFC demonstrates the strong position UniBank has established
in the market, and will allow us to contribute to the development of the
leasing sector in Azerbaijan.”
Faig Huseynov, UniBank’s chairman of the Executive Board, said, “This
transaction comes at an important time for UniBank and marks a critical
step toward the development of the country’s leasing market and broadening
of the financing opportunities for small private enterprises, which are
among UniBank’s strategic priorities.”
The International Finance Corporation is the private sector arm of the
World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. IFC coordinates
its activities with the other institutions of the World Bank Group but
is legally and financially independent. Its 178 member countries
provide its share capital and collectively determine its policies.
The mission of IFC is to promote sustainable private sector investment
in developing and transition countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve
people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing
world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps
clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical
assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding
in 1956 through FY05, IFC has committed more than $49 billion of its own
funds and arranged $24 billion in syndications for 3,319 companies in 140
developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY05 was
$19.3 billion for its own account and $5.3 billion held for participants
in loan syndications. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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