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BLACK SEA BANK TO BUILD UP CREDITING OF MOLDOVAN COMPANIES
Infotag’s exclusive interview with Mr. Andrei Kondakov, President of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB).
Q: Mr. Kondakov, which objective do you regard as your chief one on the BSTDB president post?
A: The chief objective is in realization of the long-term strategy of the BSTDB development adopted recently for the period of 2010-2020. The Bank has set itself fairly ambitious tasks of developing into a leading international development institution in the Black Sea region. The BSTDB has projected to build up its credit portfolio considerably – by 2.5-3 times, from its present size of about US$850 million. Besides this, the Bank is intending to strengthen its credit rating, which should permit borrowings from the international capital market at more advantageous terms. We are supposed also to increase the proportion of operation in the public sector, including projects in transportation and municipal infrastructures within the state/private partnership, and financing of environment-friendly and energy saving types of production.
Q: Is the financial and economic crisis telling on the Bank’s development pace?
A: The Bank has always had a well-diversified and high-quality credit portfolio. We undertook timely measures to ensure a thorough monitoring of the credit agreements concluded and their adaptation to crisis conditions in collaboration with our customers. As a result, we have not got even a single problematic credit in 2009, and finished that year with a profit, unlike some other major international financial organizations. A convincing proof to our steady position has been the preservation of the Bank’s international credit rating – Moody’s Baa1, which is higher than what all our shareholder countries have.
Q: How quickly do you think will the BSTDB credit portfolio be growing in Moldova?
A: The expanding of the BSTDB credit portfolio in Moldova is one of our objectives. To this end, BSTDB experts visited Chisinau several times in 2010 for negotiations with some Moldovan and international companies. Currently, some projects are being analyzed. We hope analysis results will be positive, and this should permit our concluding new credit agreements in the near future.
Q: Could you tell the 2009 portfolio size, and what portfolio in Moldova are you expecting this year?
A: As of end-2009, there were 6 projects totaling over US$30 million in the credit portfolio approved by the Board of Directors. In May 2010, we signed with Banca Sociala of Moldova a US$8-million credit agreement. If everything goes smoothly, we will hopefully sign one more agreement before the end of the year. (The full text of the interview will be published in the July-August 2010 issue of the Banking and Finance magazine).
Infotag’s dossier: The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) was founded in 1999 by 11 countries of the region within the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The Bank’s capital makes US$4.85 billion. Moldova holds a parcel of 1% bank shares.
