Moscow. May 3. Interfax – The board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has approved $150 ml in financing to be utilized by Citigroup for business in Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (NIS).

The agreement supplements a 2002 OPIC-Citigroup for Russia and Central Asia, to which OPIC also provided $150 ml.

Similar to the original portfolio, the new financing will target investments in the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. In addition, eastern European investments will be included, in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro.

Citigroup and OPIC will share the risk for individual loans originated under the facility.

"OPIC's initial framework agreement with Citigroup exceeded our expectations, enabling Citigroup to expand the volume and extend the tenor of financings under the facility in Russia and Central Asia, and in the process generating more than 1500 new jobs in those countries,” said OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr. "We expect today's agreement to generate similarly positive effects for businesses in eastern Europe, by leveraging both private capital and banking skills in the region."