The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development has been running its loans-to-SMEs program for five years now. During these five years, thousands of companies have taken up on the offer, which means the program has contributed significantly to the Urals’ economy as well as that of the other Russian regions where the bank operates.

The loans-to-SMEs scheme is currently the major external source of financing for small businesses. This means the companies can borrow money fast, with very few documents to file, and on good terms. The special borrowing party evaluation techniques and standardized product offers are what makes the bank’s loans-to-SMEs program different from the schemes offered to big businesses.

A number of substantial changes have been made in the program over these five years in order to keep up with the times. For one, the program became available in more parts of Russia and more and more banking products kept appearing within the scheme. The one thing that hasn’t changed over the years was the great demand the UBRD’s loans enjoyed. All in all, the bank received over 10,000 loan applications for about 10 billion RUR altogether.

The loan scheme covers all kinds of loans for different kinds of business financing-related needs. At the moment, the loans are offered under a very reasonable interest rate and for a long period of time. What is more, the bank is willing to meet the business executives’ demands and to set ‘tailored’ payment deadlines, with a six-month grace period, so as to suit the unique characteristics of a particular business, its way of operating, and seasonal activity variations. On top of all this, the UBRD also gives its customers a non-secured loans option.