Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises Sovcombank as borrower on the first ever ESG loan in the Russian banking sector

The Clifford Chance Moscow banking team has advised Sovcombank as borrower on the first ever ESG loan in the Russian banking sector. The syndicated facility of US$350 million was provided by a group of international and Russian banks to finance Halva "buy now pay later" (BNPL) platform.

The ESG loan met great interest on the part of foreign and Russian banks as well as development institutions. Its social focus and Sovcombank’s high credit ratings and transparency attracted a large number of participants, which made it possible to increase the facility amount by 75 percent compared with the initial amount (from US$200 million to US$350 million).

Sovcombank will use the funds to finance its foreign trade operations, its general corporate purposes and further growth of its portfolio of Halva BNPL platform.

The Clifford Chance Moscow team advising on the transaction consisted of banking & finance partner Vladimir Barbolin and counsel Igor Bichenkov.