MINSK, 30 September (BelTA) – The memorandum of understanding between the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) regarding the privatization of Bank Moscow-Minsk was signed on 28 September, BelTA learnt from the website of the National Bank of Belarus.
The document was inked by NBRB First Deputy Chairman of the Board Taras Nadolny and EBRD Director for the Caucasus, Moldova and Belarus Bruno Balvanera.
The memorandum describes the EBRD intention to support the privatization process by providing assistance to Bank Moscow-Minsk.
Pre-privatization assistance envisages three stages and the implementation of each of them depends on the results of the EBRD expert evaluation of the Bank Moscow-Minsk operation. At the first stage the EBRD will look into the possibility of providing the bank with credit lines and opening the trade financing program to the amount of €20 million. At the second stage the EBRD will consider the opportunity of providing technical aid with a view to expanding the potential of Bank Moscow-Minsk in financing the real sector of the economy and enhancing the bank's attractiveness for potential strategic investors. The third stage envisages the EBRD consideration, given favorable market conditions, of its participation in the Bank Moscow-Minsk capital. The conditions for such participation will be the satisfactory implementation of the provisions of the memorandum and also the observation of the rules, terms, procedures and seeking of the EBRD approvals.
Under the memorandum, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus aims to secure the improvement of systems, processes, mechanisms of monitoring and methods of management applied at Bank Moscow-Minsk.
The ultimate objective in cooperation between the National Bank and the EBRD is the privatization of Bank Moscow-Minsk via the selling of the controlling interest to the respectable strategic investor before 1 January 2020.
