News

Center-invest Bank, southern Russia’s leading bank, has been ranked 7^th in the list of Leading Corporate Philanthropists in the Financial Sector and 30^th in the overall ranking of the best Russian companies for philanthropy. The Leading Corporate Philanthropists list was compiled by the federal business newspaper Vedomosti together with PwC and the non-profit partnership Donors Forum. The ranking is based first and foremost on the effectiveness of the programmes being implemented, and only companies with a systemic approach to philanthropy are eligible for inclusion.

On 16 October 2012 Center-invest Bank hosted a networking event attended by business people from the Don region and representatives of Austrian companies that are interested in working with Russian business. The event was organised by Center-invest Bank and its partners, the Development Bank of Austria and Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich (Upper Austria).

As part of the Rostov Region Resident’s Card project, the Rostov Region’s Ministry for Information Technologies and Communications, the Regional Centre for Information Systems (autonomous state institution, Rostov Region), Don State Technical University, Rostovtransport LLC, and Center-invest Bank have started testing the first universal electronic cards (UEC) on the card-based electronic services that have already been introduced in the Rostov region.

On 11 September 2012 the Board of Directors of Center-invest Bank decided to increase the capital of the Endowment Fund for Education and Science in the Southern Federal District by RUR30m. This is to allow the further development of social and educational projects for schoolchildren, students, young academics and teaching staff in southern Russia. The fund now has capital of RUR68.5m.

Under an agreement signed on 3 September 2012, the Development Bank of Austria (OeEB) is to provide Center-invest Bank with a €20m credit line for a period of seven years. Center-invest Bank will use these funds for on-lending to SMEs that require finance for modernization and investment projects, and also for energy-efficiency loans.

Dr. Vasily Vysokov, president of the Board of Directors of Center-invest Bank and chairman of the Commission for Economic Development, Enterprise and Innovation of the Rostov Region’s Public Chamber, spoke about the “Start up, Don!” concept at the youth forum “Rostov 2012. 100% Energy”.