Bank Petrocommerce announced on Tuesday that it recently won a 2014 Global Banking & Finance Review Award as one of the fastest growing small and medium enterprises lending business in Russia.

The Global Banking & Finance Review, an online finance portal, chose the bank based on an evaluation of financial statements. The analysis looked at key features of the SME lending business model, including loan book quality, volume trends through 2013, and terms and stages of implementation of the SME lending program.

"Winning a Global Banking & Finance Review Award is yet another recognition of our efforts," Victor Okopny, the head of the bank's SME lending department, said. "When we entered this new market two years ago, we positioned ourselves as highly professional players with ambitious plans. Time has proved that our ambitions were well grounded: the bank made an unprecedented breakthrough on the Russian SME lending market thus meriting this prestigious international award. I am confident that this is not our last victory,"

When compared with market standards, Bank Petrocommerce had relatively high SME lending growth. The bank currently maintains active cooperation with both SME Bank and 12 regional funds for SME support.

Global Banking & Finance Review started the Global Banking & Finance Review Awards in 2011.