Under the loan facility agreement signed May 23, VTB, which is Russia's second-largest bank in terms of assets and equity, will use the loan proceeds to finance equipment and durables deliveries from Italy to Russia against guarantees by the Italian export insurance agency SACE, the press office said.
"The agreement that has been signed will help further develop cooperation between VTB and Monte de Paschi di Siena, intensify and deepen bilateral relations between Italy and Russia, and strengthen VTB's competitive positions in foreign trade support operations," the press office said.
Monte de Paschi di Siena had assets of 158.5 billion euros (about $214 billion) as of January 1, 2007, and posted a net income of 910 million euros (about $1.23 billion) in 2006. The banking group has more than 1,900 branches in Italy.
VTB had aggregate assets of 769.7 billion rubles (about $30 billion) and shareholder equity of 127.9 billion rubles (about $4.9 billion) as of January 1, 2007.
