EBRD deepens cooperation with Azerbaijani bank

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has relaunched its Risk-Sharing Facility (RSF) in Azerbaijan by partnering with AccessBank to share risk in loans provided to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Report informs.

Under the RSF agreement, the EBRD and AccessBank will each provide up to €15 million to share the risk of loans that AccessBank will make to local companies. It is expected that the EBRD will share up to 50 percent of the risk on individual loans, allowing AccessBank to expand its lending to a greater number of companies, most of which are smaller businesses that would not otherwise have access to such financing.

In addition, the facility will help AccessBank diversify its funding sources, improve the maturity profile of its balance sheet, and compete with larger players in the local banking sector.

Elisabetta Falcetti, EBRD Managing Director for Türkiye and the Caucasus was present at the signing ceremony at AccessBank headquarters. Falcetti said: "It is great to be in Baku, marking the relaunch of the RSF facility with the project teams. We are glad that further to increase financing to Azerbaijani businesses, this agreement will allow AccessBank to acquire new financing techniques and know-how for efficient SME financing across the country."

David Tsiklauri, AccessBank’s Chairman of the Management Board, said: “We are proud to announce that the EBRD has relaunched its RSF program in Azerbaijan with AccessBank. We are delighted about this collaboration with the EBRD, which will allow us to expand access to financing for SMEs, thereby contributing to the growth of entrepreneurship and the overall economic development of Azerbaijan.”

The RSF is a strategic framework under the EBRD’s Small Business Initiative, which is dedicated to growing and developing the private sector in the EBRD regions. The RSF enables the Bank to share the risk on partner banks’ loans to eligible enterprises that need working capital, helping those SMEs to grow and become more competitive.

To date, the EBRD has partnered with 42 local financial institutions, facilitating more than 425 RSF sub-loans to small and medium-sized enterprises with a combined value of more than €1.07 billion.

AccessBank is a commercial bank that specializes in supporting Azerbaijan’s SMEs and has been offering them affordable financial services since 2002.

The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Azerbaijan. The Bank has invested more than €3.7 billion in 190 projects to support the country’s economic diversification.