Record volumes and values of business were written in 2003 under the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development's (EBRD's) Trade Facilitation Programme ( TFP ), which guarantees letter of credit (L/C) business in the former Soviet states of Central and Eastern Europe (CIS).

These achievements were announced at EBRD's recent annual meeting, held just days before eight CIS countries acceded to the European Union in its historic eastward enlargement.

Increases

Total turnover under the TFP reached Euro467 million in 2003, an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year.

The number of annual transactions written under the facility meanwhile increased from 676 in 2002 to 939 last year.

No losses

Speaking at the two-day meeting of the EBRD - the bank created in 1991 to assist the transition of former communist nations to market economies - the bank's first vice president, Noreen Doyle, said the TFP has operated in 20 countries without a single loss or claim.

Under this apparently successful facility, EBRD provides guarantees to international confirming banks thus taking the political and commercial payment risk of transactions undertaken by issuing banks in the countries where the bank operates.

Participation

So far, transactions worth around Euro30 billion have been written by the 79 issuing banks and 500 confirming banks that have signed up to participate in the programme.

The average transaction value in the TFP is now Euro0.63 million while more than half of all transactions written since the facility opened for business in 1999 have been worth Euro100,000 or less.

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