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EBRD grants credit line to second-largest Estonian bank
Through an agreement signed today in Tallinn, small and medium-sized enterprises in Estonia will benefit from a DM 17 million (ECU 9.2 million) credit line financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The loan is in favour of AS Eesti Uhispank (EUP), a commercial bank organised as a joint-stock company incorporated under Estonian law.
David Hexter, Deputy Vice President of the EBRD, said: “This first international loan for EUP will provide the bank with medium-term funding to enable it to compete more effectively in the corporate banking market in Estonia and to help it to become a full-service universal bank. The loan will also foster competition in the Estonian banking market and encourage international banks to increase their lending exposure limits to EUP and other Estonian banks”.
With the first tranche of DM 10 million (ECU 5.4 million) and the second of DM 7 million (ECU 3.8 million), the bank-to-bank credit line will be primarily for financing medium-term loans of up to DM 2.5 million (ECU 1.4 million) for the benefit of small and medium-sized private enterprises. EUP has a pipeline of some 20 projects in agribusiness, light manufacturing, tourism and fuel distribution.
EUP is the second-largest Estonian bank - after Hansapank - and has nearly 700 employees. The bank was established in 1994 following the merger of banks which previously were branches of the former Land Bank of Estonia. Thus EUP has a very strong regional base, with offices throughout Estonia. EUP’s shares are held by investment companies from 10 regions of Estonia and the State (13 per cent). Shareholder representatives include prominent entrepreneurs and civic leaders in Estonia’s regional communities.
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