International Investment Bank Sees Massive Rise in Loans

Russia’s International Investment Bank, which relocated its headquarters to Budapest in April, expects its loan portfolio to exceed EUR 1 billion by the end of the year, executives of the bank said at a press conference. The bank’s loan portfolio expanded by 11% in the six months since moving to Hungary and the value of total allocations to date has reached EUR 373 million. IIB successfully placed three bond issues in the past half year in Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic, with a total value of EUR 275 million, Nikolay Kosov, Chairman of the Management Board at IIB told reporters. IIB, which was revived by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2012, has nine sovereign states as shareholders: Bulgaria, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Mongolia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Vietnam. The lender has approved 19 projects for financing in the past 6 months and these will be implemented in the various IIB member states.
Hungary rejoined the IIB as a member state in 2015. Last December, the  Board of Governors voted unanimously at their meeting in Cuba to relocate the IIB headquarters to Budapest. Hungarian opposition politicians and Western security officials voiced concerns that the bank may be used as a cover for Russian espionage activities in Europe. Kosov noted at the press conference that “the allegations made in many media outlets had nothing to do with reality.” He added that the bank’s activities, its expanding investor base and clients, the constant increase in its credit ratings are proof of the bank’s successful operations.