Prague, April 28 (CTK) - The Czech Export Bank (CEB) at the annual general meeting (AGM) today approved raising of share capital from Kc2bn to Kc2.95bn, the bank said in a press release today.

This step, as one of the Czech government anti-crisis measures, aims to provide a boost to exporters, the bank said. The CEB will use Kc650m from the state and Kc300m from the state-run insurer EGAP. "After this increase, the state's share will be 72.9 percent and the EGAP's share 27.1 percent," the bank said. Last year, the CEB's net profit grew to Kc195m from 2007's Kc80m, CEB spokesman Jan Stolar said. The CEB's total assets increased by nearly 24 percent on the year to Kc42.5bn. The CEB signed contracts totalling Kc20.5bn in 2008, up by 6 percent against 2007. "More than 75 percent of the newly signed contracts enabled financing of export of mainly complete plants to countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and mainly to the Russian Federation," the CEB said. The CEB's total amount of loans grew from Kc23.8bn to Kc32.3bn. The volume of loans granted for financing of small and medium-sized enterprises increased from Kc390m to Kc497m on the year. The state-run CEB provides state support to export by providing and financing export loans and other services related with export.