Azernews.Az

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the country`s leading bank, has signed an agreement to draw syndicated loans worth $53.5 million and €5 million, the bank said.
``It is the bank`s first major deal on the world financial market in 2009. It testifies to foreign investors` trust and huge interest in the Azerbaijani bank amid the ongoing global financial crisis and the deficit of spare funds in international markets,`` the IBA said.
Executives of international banks, including Citibank, N.A., Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleen Bank B.A., Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg and Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich Aktiengesellschaft, acted as authorized organizers of the syndication.
In total, 10 banks from different countries, including the Economy Bank N.V., Banque de Commerce et de Placements, Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi A.S., FBN Bank (UK), Unicredit Bank Austria AG and Bayerische Hypo and Vereinsbank AG, participated in the syndication. Most of these banks have contributed to arranging previous syndications for the IBA or granted funds to the bank under bilateral agreements.
Though the initial sum of the syndication had been announced in the amount of $36 million, the total amount of the deal rose to $53.5 million and €5 million, which is the result of the financial institutions` great interest in the IBA.
The funds have been allocated to the bank for one year to finance trade transactions. The bank plans to continue attracting syndicated loans in the future.
The IBA has drawn foreign loans since 2001. In 2005-2008, the bank attracted four large syndicated loans worth $56 million (a syndicate of 19 banks), $130 million (a syndicate of 25 banks), $140 million (a syndicate of 26 banks) and $173.5 million (a syndicate of 28 banks).
Also, the bank was the first in the history of Azerbaijan`s banking sector to draw a subordinated loan in the amount of $100 million in 2007.