OREANDA-NEWS. May 7, 2009. AGBank, one of Azerbaijan`s leading crediting institutions, signed a covenant on the allocation of a USD 10 million loan by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in Baku on Tuesday. The funds will be mainly spent to finance projects implemented by 70,000 new small and medium enterprises in the country.

The eight-year loan will be disbursed in two portions. The allocation is part of a USD 15 million investment by IFC, one of AGBank`s shareholders. The bank will receive the remaining USD 5 million in 2010.

Chingiz Asadullayev, the Chairman of AGBank`s Supervisory Board, regarded the signing of the loan covenant as an indicator of the Corporation`s confidence in the Azerbaijani economy and as valuable assistance provided at a time the world is grappling with a dire economic crisis.

Asadullayev says the allotted loan will allow to credit local entrepreneurs on more beneficial terms. According to him, the funds will be chiefly spent on the development of the Azerbaijani regions.

He added that considering the financial status of the regions, AGBank, as a rule, finances entrepreneurship there with low rates.

The agreement inked with IFC is the second loan covenant signed by AGBank with foreign investors this year. In early April, the bank borrowed a total of USD 9.5 million from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).

The document was signed by AGBank Board Chairman Azer Movsumov and IFC Director for Southern Europe and Central Asia Shahbaz Mavaddat.

AGBank (Azerigazbank) was founded in 1992. As of April 1, its assets exceeded 204.7 million manats (USD 255.8 million), while gross capital made up about 31.3m manats (USD 39.1m), including capital stock worth 15m manats (USD 18.75m). The bank runs 16 subsidiaries, 54 ATMs and 409 POS terminals across the country.