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Mobiasbanca gets credit to boost Moldovan imports, exports
A $2.5 million revolving credit agreement with the EBRD will enable Moldova's Mobiasbanca SA to expand its ability to finance Moldovan exporters and importers. Alongside its existing guarantee facilities and letters of credit, Mobiasbanca will now also offer a new trade-promoting instrument: short-term cash advances to support Moldovan enterprises in international trade.
The deal is part of the EBRD's Trade Facilitation Programme, initiated in 1999 to support trade to, from and within the EBRD’s 27 countries of operations. The Bank guarantees payment obligations of local issuing banks to their Western confirming counterparts in respect of trade-finance instruments. The fast-growing programme recently topped the €1 billion mark for volume financed. In addition to providing trade-finance guarantees, under this programme the EBRD also extends short-term loans to selected banks in its countries of operations to fund trade-related advances to local companies.
Rogers LeBaron, Director for Bank Lending, Financial Institutions department at the EBRD, said the expansion of the programme in Moldova confirms the EBRD’s commitment to helping local private enterprises access foreign markets. Working with Mobiasbanca also shows the EBRD’s continued support for the banking sector in Moldova, the core priority of its recently approved country strategy.
Nicolae Dorin, President of Mobiasbanca, described the signing as an important moment in Mobiasbanca's relationship with EBRD. He said the two institutions have worked successfully together for several years and that Mobiasbanca is committed to ensuring that the new facility is a success.
The EBRD and Mobiasbanca began working together in 1996, when Mobiasbanca received a credit line for lending to micro and small enterprises. Today Mobiasbanca provides a wide range of services both to companies and individuals, making it the sixth largest bank in Moldova, serving a steadily growing client base that already numbers more than 18,000.
The EBRD has signed 27 investments in Moldova worth €162 million, in sectors including agribusiness, energy, transport, municipal utilities and banking.
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