KIEV, March 29 - Raiffeisen Bank Aval, Ukraine??™s No. 2 bank by assets, plans to borrow $1 billion, mainly through syndicated loans, before the end of 2007, Viktoria Masna, head of the bank's financial institutions relations department, said Thursday.

The bank is planning to issue Eurobonds in early 2008 and securitize a part of its mortgage portfolio before the end of 2008 by issuing bonds on the foreign market.