Washington, D.C., October 10, 2010—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced that Black Sea Trade and Development Bank became the seventh development finance institution to adopt IFC’s Master Cooperation Agreement, which helps bridge private sector financing gaps in emerging markets by making it easier and faster for lenders to cofinance projects with IFC.

IFC’s Master Cooperation Agreement standardizes steps that lenders take when joining IFC to cofinance projects, increasing efficiencies and saving borrowers and lenders time and costs throughout the life of a loan. IFC created the agreement in response to calls by G20 nations for increased collaboration among international financial institutions to help meet private sector financing shortfalls during the global financial crisis.  

“IFC and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank share a desire to support economic development and regional cooperation in the 11 countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation region,” said Rashad Kaldany, IFC Vice President for Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa at a signing ceremony to formalize the cooperation. “The Master Cooperation Agreement allows us to work together more effectively and get funding to where it’s needed more quickly.”  

Andrey Kondakov, the President of BSTDB said, “Joining the Master Cooperation Agreement is an important step for BSTDB to further strengthen our cooperation and coordination with IFC and peer financial institutions in supporting investors and companies in our member countries to promote development of infrastructure, energy, financial sector, and other key areas.”

IFC mobilizes funding from other financiers to meet the needs of private sector clients in emerging markets. Lenders who adopt the Master Cooperation Agreement will benefit from IFC’s existing syndication platform, deal-structuring expertise, due diligence and global presence.

The current signatories to the Master Cooperation Agreement are the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), France’s Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique (Proparco); Germany’s Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH ( DEG); the Developmental Bank of Japan (DBJ), the Netherland’s Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij Voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).

In fiscal year 2010, IFC mobilized $734 million through syndicated parallel loans for 14 loans in emerging markets. Financing from international finance institutions accounted for 37 percent of the $2 billion IFC mobilized through loan syndications, compared to 17 percent and $2.2 billion, respectively, in fiscal year 2009.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. We create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives—by providing financing to help businesses employ more people and provide essential services, mobilizing capital from others, and delivering advisory and risk-management services to ensure sustainable development. In a time of global economic uncertainty, our new investments climbed to a record $18 billion in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

For information about Black Sea Trade and Development Bank visit www.bstdb.org