Reta Jo Lewis testifies before a Senate Banking and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on her nomination as chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 26, 2021. REUTERS/ Elizabeth Frantz

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – The board of directors of the U.S. Export-Import Bank on Thursday voted to formalize the bank’s withdrawal from all further business in Russia and approved agreements for financing and guaranteeing worth up to $381 million for Iraq, Sri Lanka and Albania.

The US government’s export credit agency said its board also voted to notify Congress of a proposed renewal of a $450 million credit guarantee to Citibank (CN) that is supporting a $500 million facility to enable 365 suppliers to aircraft manufacturer Boeing (BA.N) to receive accelerated payments of receivables related to export sales of Boeing aircraft.

Notification is required for any transaction over $100 million. After 35 days, the board may hold a final approval vote.

EXIM said the board, meeting for the first time under new Chairman and President Reta Jo Lewis, approved a $48 million loan guarantee to support the sale of 12 Wabtec Corp (WAB. N) Manufactured in the USA at Sri Lanka Railways. Wabtec, which acquired the locomotives business of General Electric (GE.N) in 2019, won the $56 million contract over its Chinese rivals, EXIM said.

The lender has also approved a preliminary commitment for an energy efficiency license of nearly $33 million for Albania’s national electricity utility to rehabilitate its metering capacity.

For Iraq, the board of directors approved a resolution that authorizes EXIM bank officers to approve, deny and modify applications for insurance coverage on letters of credit used by the Trade Bank of Iraq until $300 million on purchases of American goods and services.

The official Russian business closure follows an announcement last week by EXIM and export credit agencies in Britain and Canada to withdraw all support from Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion. Russian from Ukraine. EXIM previously had an administrative suspension prohibiting Russian business since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. read more

EXIM still has $410 million of previous credit exposure to Russia, mostly for loan guarantees in the aviation sector that were issued before the annexation of Crimea.

“EXIM is working quickly to resolve these transaction refunds,” the bank said.

Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Grant McCool

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