Macedonia—Ohridska Banka Société Générale (OBSG)

Ohridska Banka Société Générale (OBSG) became an affiliate of Société Générale in 2007. One of 10 companies in the Macedonian Stock Exchange Index, OBSG signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a €5 million Loan Facility. DAI was contracted to provide technical assistance focused on strengthening OBSG’s small and medium enterprise (SME) lending operations and to ensure the full utilization of the facility. The SME lending industry in Macedonia is quite competitive, although there is still unrealized potential in some parts of the country. OBSG’s SME strategy foresaw an ambitious 40 percent growth of the SME portfolio while targeting primarily larger and stronger business that had acceptable official financial statements. That made it essential for OBSG to provide efficient service and offer competitive product features to appeal to this specific SME segment.

Sample Activities

• Optimize SME lending policies and procedures, including training focused on sales and credit risk.
• Design and implement an SME credit scoring model.
• Design and implement an Application Processing System to cover the majority of SME lending operations.
• Represent EBRD in loan approval, ensuring all EBRD criteria are met and that OBSG is able to meet EBRD reporting requirements.