A meeting of the Board of Governors of theBlack Sea Trade and Development Bank took place in Sofia during the weekend. The bank is an international financial institution established by countries located in the Black Sea region: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. In June the bank marks its 15th anniversary and the meeting was chaired by Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister responsible for economic affairs, Daniela Bobeva. Governors have approved the financial statements for 2013, which show the bank has recorded a net profit of 13.3 million euros for the ninth consecutive year. Approved financial operations totaled EUR 267 million, which is 40% more than in 2012. Approved projects totaled some 225 million euros. These results make it clear that in reality the Black Sea Bank is a regional bank with relatively limited financial resources and it cannot replace institutions like the World Bank, the European Investment Bank or the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The bank has actually no such ambitions as its main goal is to promote economic development by financing certain projects in the member countries. "The most important task of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank is cooperation and the development of cross-border projects. The idea of the bank is that the more cross-border projects there are, the more stable the region will be,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

The board of the bank has so far approved 30 operations in Bulgaria, which makes 9% of the total loan portfolio of regional financial institutions. "This is a decent rate but it could be better and I hope we can do it," said the bank president Andrei Kondakov. He added that so far the institution has given loans in Bulgaria amounting to 270 million euro. Currently 11 projects totaling 100 million euro are being implemented. Minister Daniela Bobeva added that a number of successful projects have already been completed in Bulgaria thanks to the bank. Ms. Bobeva pointed out the factory for non-ferrous metals in Plovdiv. Significant amount in the bank's portfolio is used for financing trade, Bobeva added.

A day before the meeting of the governors of the bank in Sofia, an agreement was signed by BSTDB for providing technical assistance to the state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank. The aim is sharing knowledge and good practices in the field of finance. Furthermore, a deal worth 3 million euro was signed with a Bulgarian leasing company. The financing will be used for purchasing production equipment, vehicles and property.

Considering the good financial performance of the bank and the successful projects in Member States, the governing body of the financial institution said that sectors in Bulgaria that are expected to work actively with the bank are production and repair of ships and machinery. "I strongly hope that the bank will strengthen its activities in the manufacturing industry," said Deputy Prime Minister Daniela Bobeva. President of the Bank Andrey Kondakov did not exclude the possibility that the bank be included in the financing of the South Stream pipeline after existing issues surrounding the project are resolved with the help of the EC.

English: Alexander Markov