ZAGREBACKA BANKA SIGNS AGREEMENT ON SYNDICATED LOAN

ZAGREB, March 8 (Hina) - Zagrebacka Banka dd on Friday signed an agreement on a syndicated loan of 130 mil. Swiss francs (160 mil. German marks) with representatives of unions of 30 foreign banks. Zagrebacka Banka dd is the first Croatian borrower to have tapped the syndicated loan market. The loan has a tenor of one year and one day. The operation was jointly arranged by Creditanstalt- Bankverein, Dresdner Bank Luxembourg S.A. and Union Bank of Switzerland. The loan would be used to boost production, the president of the Zagrebacka Banka managing board, Franjo Lukovic, said. "The loan will finance imports of raw materials and machinery," Lukovic said. The vice-president of the Royal Bank of Switzerland, Friedrich von Schwarzenberg, said that it was very important that the transaction was not supported by a guarantee of the Croatian government. He also stressed that Croatia enjoyed a high credit rating and had a good economy perspective due to factors such as highly educated personnel and a number of natural factors such as Croatia's maritime location and tourist tradition. "All those factors are reasons for being optimistic," Schwarzenberg said. (hina) lm jn 081609 MET mar 96