Hipotēku banka enlarges cooperation with KfW Bankengruppe

The Latvian Hipotēku banka and KfW Bankengruppe have concluded a EUR 30 million
global loan agreement to support the SME sector in Latvia. The agreement was
signed by the Chairman of the Board of Hipotēku banka, Mr Inesis Feiferis, and
KfW Bankengruppe Board Member Günther Bräunig at the Latvian Ministry of
Finance in Riga. Hipotēku banka will use the funds to finance medium and
long-term investments of small and medium-sized enterprises in Latvia. SMEs are
still at a disadvantage when applying for loan capital. The new credit line
will help to enhance the supply of loan products to these target groups. “I am
very pleased about our new agreement as it carries forward our common objective
in supporting the growth of the SME sector in Latvia,” said Mr Bräunig at the
signature of the global loan in Riga. 

Hipotēku banka and KfW Bankengruppe have been cooperating intensively since
2000. As part of this cooperation EUR 36 million in global loans have already
been granted to Hipotēku banka to support the Latvian SME sector. Furthermore,
in early July this year the two institutions signed a memorandum for the
promotion of energy efficiency and climate protection together with other
Eastern European promotional banks in Estonia and Poland. It made firm
provision for further cooperation and exchange of knowledge with a view to
developing and providing funding for housing renovation and making efficient
use of European structural funds. “KfW experience shows us how promotional
banks can give impetus to society as a whole and SMEs in particular. We have
learned a lot from our partners in KfW and hope this significant cooperation
will continue and develop further,” commented Mr Feiferis. 

Hipotēku banka is the only state-owned bank in Latvia. Its priority activity is
to provide support for small and medium-sized enterprises and to promote
economic activity in all regions of Latvia by cooperating with private
commercial banks. The bank's development products target development in various
sectors by providing support for technical innovations and new business ideas. 

KfW Bankengruppe is the promotional bank of the Federal Republic of Germany. It
started its activities in Central and Eastern Europe in 1991 with the aim of
providing support for the development of the financial sector in that region.
KfW initially focused on setting up promotional banks and developing
promotional loan programmes. Nowadays KfW provides commercial and promotional
banks with refinancing funds for different purposes such as SME financing,
housing programmes and small infrastructure projects. Furthermore, since 2000
KfW has been participating in the EU SME Facility as well as in the Municipal
Finance Facility (municipal lending) and the Preparatory Action Plan
(microloans). The activities of KfW cover the entire region; total commitments
amount to EUR 1.6 billion spread over 50 partner banks in Central and Eastern
Europe. 

Press contacts:
Hipotēku banka: Mareks Matisons, Tel: +371 6777 4261, E-mail:
mareks.matisons@hipo.lv 
KfW Bankengruppe: Nathalie Drücke, Tel: +49 69 7431-2098, E-mail:
nathalie.druecke@kfw.de