European bank ‘supports int’l trade in Turkey through Odeabank’

LONDON

Jean-Patrick Marquet, EBRD Director, Turkey

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has said it is supporting the expansion of international trade with a $50 million trade facility to Turkish lender Odeabank under the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Program (TFP) in a written statement on Jan. 18. 

Through the facility the EBRD will issue guarantees in favor of international commercial banks covering the political and commercial payment risk of the transactions undertaken by Odeabank. 

The EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Program, launched in 1999, aims to promote foreign trade to, from and among the countries where the EBRD invests, according to the statement. Through the program, the EBRD provides guarantees to international confirming banks and short-term loans to selected banks and factoring companies for on-lending to local exporters, importers and distributors. The TFP currently includes over 120 partner banks in 25 countries where the EBRD works, with limits exceeding 1.5 billion euros in total, and more than 800 confirming banks worldwide, said the EBRD. 

“The program will help Odeabank to better meet the trade finance needs of its clients and further expand its activities in that sector,” said Jean-Patrick Marquet, EBRD Director, Turkey. 

“For the first time, Odeabank has signed a $50 million contract with the EBRD to support the trade finance activities of enterprises. Through this contract, our bank aims to diversify the support it provides for trade products,” said Alpaslan Yurdagül, Odeabank Financial Institutions and Investment Banking Assistant General Manager.

Odeabank started its operations in Turkey in 2012 as a subsidiary of the largest Lebanese bank, Audi. In only two and a half years it has rapidly grown to become Turkey’s 10th-largest private deposit bank in terms of asset size in a sector made up of almost 50 lenders, according to the statement. 

Previously, the EBRD has provided a 60 million euros loan to Odeabank for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

Turkey is the top destination of EBRD finance, with 1.9 billion euros invested in 2015 alone.