The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) has signed a loan agreement with Russia’s NBD Bank, worth Rb96mn (about US$3mn).

The money will be on-lent to NBD’s SME clients in Russia over a period of five years.

The regions of Nizhegorodskaya, Kirov, Ivanov and Penza, the Chuvash Republic and Mari El stand to benefit most.

The EDB’s managing director for corporate finance Dmitry Krasilnikov says: “The project will contribute to the creation and advancement of favourable conditions for the sustainable development of SMEs in Russia, the development of a competitive environment and the improvement of SMB competitiveness in foreign and domestic markets, as well as the advancement of infrastructure and institutional framework of Russia’s market economy.”