News

Center-invest Bank is in fifth place in the ranking “The Best Banks in the SME Lending Market in Russia in 2011”, compiled by RosBusinessConsulting (www.rbc.ru). As reported on the RBC website, in 2011, Center-invest Bank provided RUB62.6bn in SME loans, an increase of 32.2% on 2010.

The winners of the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award 2011 (SEA) were announced in Vienna. Center-invest Bank was the only Russian company to make it to the final of this international competition. This achievement is attributable to the bank’s strategies for sustainable business development, incorporating social responsibility. Every year, Center-invest Bank runs more than ten social and educational projects.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit has submitted its independent auditor’s report of Center-invest Bank’s operations for the year 2011. This will be the sixteenth year that the bank presents its results to its shareholders and partners using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). PWC has verified the high quality of our accounting practices in 2011.

In partnership with the EBRD, Center-invest Bank has launched a new loan programme to promote the sustainable development of SMEs in southern Russia: loans with a term of up to seven years for energy modernization projects.

In March 2012, Center-invest Bank hosted the signing of a multilateral agreement on cooperation under the Youth Business Russia programme of the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF).

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Center-invest Bank, Dr. Vasily Vysokov, attended the conference “Small Business is Big Business” held in Beirut on 23-24 January 2012 by International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Central Bank of Lebanon (Banque Du Liban) and the Development Bank of Austria. Addressing bankers from the Middle East and North Africa, Dr. Vysokov presented a paper on Center-invest Bank’s experience of financing energy efficiency projects.