Financial institutions development - the case of the Russia Small Business Fund

Abstract

The European Bank (EBRD) has, over the last three years, established programmes with various financial intermediaries in Central and Eastem Europe and the former Soviet Union to provide financing for small SME projects. The Bank participates in venture capital funds, takes equity in local banks to increase their capital base and strengthen corporate governance, provides bank to bank loans, co-finances local projects with foreign and local banks, and provides Apex credit lines under sovereign guarantee. Some of these activities are aimed primarily at finding investments and providing support to SMEs, but the majority of the programmes take a broader approach and have interrelated goals: funding SMEs, and creating the long-term capability of the local banking system to provide small firms with access to bank services.