Page 29 - bne_newspaper_February_01_2019

Weekly Lists
February 1, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 29
bne:Banker
“Bad bank” to bail out second largest Kazakh lender seeking urgent takeover
IIB could launch operations at
new Hungarian headquarters in 1H19
Kazakhstan’s state-owned “bad bank”, the Problem Loan Fund (PLF), plans to sell KZT604bn (€1.4bn) in domestic bonds this week to fund asset purchases from second largest Kazakh lender Tsesnabank, the Kazakh Stock Exchange said on January 25.
On the same day, Reuters cited anonymous sources as saying that Tsesnabank was urgently looking for a bank to take it over to prevent a collapse.
Tsesnabank sold €1.1bn in bad loans to PLF last year. It has been attempting to restructure its bad loans stemming from overexposure to the agricultural sector. The lender, which holds $1bn in retail deposits, cannot be liquidated without it having
a wider effect on the Central Asian nation’s economy.
The establishment of the International Investment Bank’s (IIB’s) headquarters in Budapest was the main topic of discussions between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Nikolay Kosov, the IIB's president, at the prime minister's offices in the Castle District on January 28.
The IIB’s new Hungarian headquarters could launch its operations in Budapest as early as the first half of this year, the IIB said, after the two sides confirmed their mutual intentions to take all neces- sary steps for prompt conclusion and ratification of the host-coun- try agreement, preliminarily planned for the beginning of February.
Hungary has lobbied to host the IIB since it rejoined the bank back in 2015. The deal was sealed during the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Orban in September 2018.
The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, said on January 29 it is lending €55mn to Garanti Bank Romania to help finance small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and their sustainable energy finance projects to generate growth and resilience to climate change.
The new loan will allow Garanti to extend its reach to smaller companies. Enlarging financial intermediation is vital to sustain the flow of credit to SMEs, which are integral to Romania’s economy, the IFC said. This is the seventh agreement signed by Garanti Group Romania with the IFC during the past seven years
IFC lends €55mn to Garanti Bank Romania to support SMEs