On June 9, 2010 the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) signed a loan agreement of USD 5 million with Azerbaijan’s Bank Respublika for on-lending to small business in Azerbaijan. EFSE will also provide technical aid in institutional development of the Bank.

At the time when many banks are experiencing difficulties with attracting foreign loans, Bank Respublika is remaining attractive for foreign investors. The Bank focused at maintenance of high liquidity and reliability, which allowed to preserve confidence of many foreign financing institutions.

The loan agreement was signed during EFSE annual meeting in Ohrid, FYR Macedonia. It is particularly important that this is the first investment of EFSE in Azerbaijan.

EFSE’s loan to Bank Respublika has been provided under the European Neighborhood Small Business Growth Facility (ENBF) and open new cooperation opportunities for Azerbaijan.

The EFSE fund is aimed at fostering economic development and prosperity in Southeast Europe, including Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.

The fund offers long-term funding instruments to local financial institutions for on-lending loans to small business, in particular to micro and small enterprises (MSEs), as well as housing loans to low-income private households.

The EFSE was initiated by KfW (The German Development Bank). The investor base is comprised of donors and international financing institutions, including European Commission, Federal German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ), the governments of Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Albania, KfW, IFC, FMO, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB) and Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB). Oppenheim and Deutsche Bank also contribute to the funding base.

Bank Respublika started its operations in 1992 and is now one of the leading banks of Azerbaijan. The Bank's shareholders include 2 of Germany's largest financial organizations – DEG, a member of the KfW banking group, and SIDT, a member of Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, which hold a package of 25% + 1 share in the bank. Bank Respublika has a B2 long-term rating of national and foreign currency deposits with "stable" forecast from the international agency Moody's Investors Service.