On February 19, the delegation of the IIB led by the Chairman of the Board, Nikolay Kosov, visited Slovakia in order to bring the Slovak delegation up to date on the current developments at the Bank as well as on its plans for the near future. Slovakia has been one of the leading member states of the Bank in terms of the support it has been providing and it remains a key member state also from the point of view of the planned opening of the Bank’s first office outside its seat — as IIB’s regional European office — to be established in Bratislava in the first half of 2015.

In a series of meetings at the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Kosov met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Peter Kazimir, as well as with the State Secretary and Head of the Slovak delegation in the IIB Council, Vazil Hudak. The representatives of the Ministry were informed about the latest developments, and the parties discussed in detail further steps with regard to a joint Slovak-IIB fund, a possible new bond issue in Slovakia, and the opening of IIB’s office in Bratislava. Funds raised during the initial EUR 30 million IIB bond placement on the Bratislava Stock Exchange in October 2014 allowed the Bank to provide financing in Slovakia for Tatravagonka and Slovak Gas Holding — the largest loans in IIB’s portfolio. Slovak authorities continue to express great interest in the Bank and its potential to promote economic development in Slovakia, and the meetings led to significant progress in the establishment of the IIB office in Bratislava.

IIB’s representatives later met with other members of the Slovak delegation as well as with the representatives of the Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of the Slovak Republic. All of the participants were willing to explore in more detail opportunities related to joint participation in projects with the Bank, such as the Slovak-IIB fund, and to supporting IIB’s capacity to raise funds for its activities in Slovakia, including potential refinancing of Slovak projects in IIB’s portfolio.

The highly positive tone of the meetings was a reflection both of the steps already undertaken by the Slovak delegation with the aim of assisting the Bank in fulfilling its strategic goals and of those that were agreed by the parties for the very near future.