SAB is currently owned by EBRD (25% plus one share), Igor Kim (33.6%), Andrey Bekarev (16.8%), Alexander Taranov (16.8%), and other shareholders (7.8%). After registration of the results of the new share issue, the top six shareholders will be EBRD (28.44%), Igor Kim (24.37%), Andrey Bekarev (12.34%), Alexander Taranov (12.19%), DEG (10.31%) and Clariden (6.87%).

The proposed project consists of a senior unsecured loan of up to US$10 million. If requested by the Bank, the senior loan may be structured as a Ruble denominated loan to help SAB mitigate its foreign exchange risk, while meeting its SME customers’ needs.

10.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	10.0
Equity

* These investment figures are indicative

SAB is headquartered in Novosibirsk and currently has 8 branches and 123 offices throughout Siberia.

The proposed investment is expected to have a noteworthy impact on further development of the Western Siberian financial and the private sectors. First, the IFC loan will provide additional long-term resources for the regional banking sector, thereby allowing it to play a more effective role in the development of the private sector through financial intermediation. Underdevelopment of the financial sector in Russia, especially in the regions, is one of the major weaknesses of the Russian economy. Second, SAB will broaden the range of financial products available to its clients. Funding sources for SMEs, particularly those operating in the regions, are scarce as the Russian banking sector is highly concentrated in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Thus, the project addresses the objective of improving the business environment for SMEs by facilitating their access to both term funding and a wider scope of financial services. Ruble funding, if accessed through this project, would be particularly beneficial for sub-borrowers as long-term ruble financing is rare in Russia. Third, Technical Assistance support by IFC is designed to assist SAB in its efforts to introduce best practices with respect to launching its housing finance program. Fourth, SAB is expected to be one of the first clients in Russia to participate in IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program (“GTDP”). The trade finance facility would address the demand from SAB’s clients and support trade flows as well as help SAB strengthen its relationship with international financial institutions. IFC’s role in this project: Providing longer-term financing: Support a major regional Russian bank, and an existing client, to expand its funding base and extend the maturity profile of its liabilities; thus enabling the Bank to provide longer-term funds to its SME clients. Demonstration effect: By continuing to invest in a regional bank such as SAB, IFC will send a strong signal of support for the Russian private banking sector, which should eventually encourage other international lenders increase the maturity of their loans to other banks in the country. Additionally, the project will support SAB’s growth and therefore, improve financial intermediation in Russia and foster competition among new and existing players. This will help to expand the range of financial services available in the regions other than Moscow and St. Petersburg.

This is a category FI Type 1 project according to IFC’s environmental and social review procedure. The bank has already established an environmental management system for its corporate and SME lending operations to ensure that the activities and enterprises it finances comply with Russian environmental and occupational health and safety requirements. Designated SAB officers have already completed IFC’s environmental training course for financial intermediaries and the bank will continue to provide IFC with environmental performance reports on an annual basis for the duration of this follow-on investment.
Location of environmental documents in locally affected community