RZB acts as the central bank to Austria’s Raiffeisen Banking Group as well as a commercial bank and in some countries as an investment bank. With assets of EUR 46.5 billion it is currently Austria’s 3rd largest banking group. In 1987 RZB started to diversify its activities outside of Austria by creating a subsidiary in Hungary (founding Unicbank together with IFC). Since then it has grown one of the most complete and locally focused banking networks in the Central, Eastern and South Eastern European region. RZB continues to play an important role in the economic development of the region, and in particular in the less developed markets, such as Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine and soon in Albania. RZB has a strong commitment to this region and has in many cases been one of or the first foreign banks to invest.

The proposed project consists of an equity and/or debt investment totaling up to EUR 200 million to support Raiffeisen International.

121.28 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	60.64
Equity	60.64

* These investment figures are indicative

Raiffeisen International is a Vienna based Austrian joint stock company, which holds controlling interests in a number of finance subsidiaries in the countries listed above.

This is an FI Type 1 project. Raiffeisen International will be required to develop an environmental management system to ensure that relevant operations meet host country environmental an social requirements. IFC will assess Raiffeisen International’s capacity in this regard.
Location of environmental documents in locally affected community

Through this investment IFC will support RZB’s efforts in the region, which since 1998 are increasingly targeted at the development of small and medium enterprise lending. RZB has a strong commitment to this region and has in many cases been one of the first foreign banks to invest. Unlike many other foreign banks in the region, RZB has developed a clear focus on local customers. The countries in which Raiffeisen International operates are still poorly served by their banks. The banking contribution to GDP in the more developed markets of Raiffeisen International (Czech Republic and Slovenia) is at the level of approximately 50%. This is still low relative to developed countries such as Austria or Germany where the comparable figure is over 100%. This shows that there is still significant growth potential and also a development lag. In addition, other countries in Raiffeisen International’s portfolio lag further behind in terms of banking development. IFC’s support of a well-run bank in these countries will have an important developmental impact.