UralSib Bank

completed

_x000C_The proposed transaction consists of an IFC investment of up to $30 million in the form of a 5 year senior secured loan to Ural-Siberian Bank (UralSib, the Bank, or the company), a leading regional bank in the Russian Federation. The project is aimed at helping the Bank to expand its lending to medium-sized private Russian companies. UralSib was founded in 1993 as an entity wholly-owned by the Republic of Bashkortostan (RoB), a mineral-rich autonomous region located in the east of the European part of Russia. Until 2000, when a 14% stake of the Bank was sold to external parties, the Bank had been 100% owned by the RoB. In late 2003, 72.5% of the Bank was acquired by companies related to the Nikoil Financial Corporation (Nikoil FC), a major Russian financial group that owns and controls two commercial banks, IBG-Nikoil Bank (Nikoil) and Avtobank-Nikoil (Avtobank) as well as several other banking financial companies such as factoring, leasing, insurance and asset management. The acquisition of the Bank was part of an expansion process initiated by Nikoil FC to bring together one of the most complete financial groups in Russia. The new merged group will be among top 5 banking institutions in Russia. .