Investment bank IIB, Varga initial agreement to bringing regional office to Hungary

After signing an MoU on Monday with the head of the International Investment Bank (IIB), Nikolay Kosov, on establishing a new European regional office in Hungary, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said a key aim for rapidly developing countries in eastern Europe was to improve competitiveness. Varga said Hungary's competitiveness would be strengthened on the back of a further expansion of corporate lending. Thanks to a new office in Budapest, the bank headquartered in Moscow will be in a position to become a major player in investments and corporate lending in central and eastern Europe, Varga said. In a statement, the IIB said the aim was to open the Budapest office at the start of 2019. "Whilst assessing possible locations for IIB European Unit International Investment Bank's Board was unanimous in its choice of Budapest as a platform for this new strategic business unit of the bank," Kosov said in the IIB's statement.