EIB President Hoyer stated: “EIB and Sberbank are pooling their expertise and financial resources to cooperate in areas of mutual interest in their common regions of operation. We have agreed to work jointly towards facilitating the financing of SMEs and fostering climate action projects in the countries in which both our institutions are operating”.
Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank, commented “It is no coincidence that the European Investment Bank signed a Statement on Cooperation with Sberbank, which is transforming into a transnational bank with a strong presence in Europe. I am certain that the agreement will become the basis for further development of global relationships between Sberbank and EIB”.
After Sberbank’s recent acquisition of Volksbank International AG, the two banks intend to continue working together to support SMEs in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Similarly, Sberbank’s acquisition of DenizBank will enable both financial institutions to enhance their cooperation with SMEs and address other common priorities in Turkey. The banks also intend to cooperate in Russia, the Eastern Neighbourhood countries and Central Asia to support in particular SMEs and mid-caps.
This cooperation is also in line with the Joint IFI Action Plan for Growth in Central and South Eastern Europe, which is focused on providing better access to long-term finance for supporting private and public sector initiatives, including infrastructure, corporate investment and the financial sector. In addition to the former Joint Action Plan, it will support growth by fostering economic restructuring, consolidation and diversification, as well as enhancing long-term competitiveness through the increased availability of long-term credit.
Background
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.
Through its financing of the EU Candidate and Potential Candidate Countries, the Bank fosters the integration process with the EU, fulfilment of EU accession criteria and harmonisation with the economic development of the EU, ensuring the best possible preparation of those countries for EU membership once they are invited to join the Union.
The EIB finances projects in Russia and Eastern Neighbourhood on the basis of an EU Council and European Parliament mandate for the Eastern Partner Countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia) of EUR 3.8 billion for the period 2007-2013 to contribute to local private sector development, the development of social and economic infrastructure, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. This external mandate is complemented by the EPF and the Energy Sustainability Facility (ESF), a EUR 4.5 billion facility set up by the EIB at its own risk.
Sberbank of Russia is the largest bank in Russia and holds almost one third of all Russian banking sector assets. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is the founder and major shareholder of Sberbank, owning 50% of the total share capital plus one voting share. Other shares are held by more than 245,000 individual and institutional investors. The Bank has the largest distribution network in Russia with over 19,000 offices as well as subsidiaries in 20 countries including the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey. In September 2012, Sberbank completed the acquisition of DenizBank AS which is ranked 6th among private and 9th among all Turkish banks by consolidated total assets.
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