BOS confirms commitment to financial support for eco-friendly projects

Bank Ochrony Srodowiska (BOS) has announced a development strategy that will see it strengthen its position as a major backer of ecologically friendly projects. The bank, in which Swedish commercial bank Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) holds a minority 31.2% controlling interest, plans to concentrate on servicing ecologically friendly undertakings and providing services for small and medium-sized companies. BOS's strategy will also see it modernize its products and create special services for Scandinavian companies. BOS chief executive, Jaroslaw Chudecki, says that the bank plans to introduce a centralized IT system, which would allow it to introduce new products, such as servicing clients via the Internet. Chudecki added, however, that BOS did not intend to take on Poland's biggest retail banks in the Internet banking sector. He said the service was designed merely to support its private banking activities. BOS's key aim is to maintain its 50% share of the market for commercial credits for financing ecologically-friendly projects. By the end of March 2001, BOS had granted almost 22,000 'green' credits, worth a combined zl.3.8 billion. In the first three months of 2001, the bank's operating profits were zl.17.3 million, 21% down from the same period of last year. Despite the decline, chief executive Chudecki is confident that the bank will meet its profit target for the year, which is zl.72 million. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10, Reuters) A.D.