Azer News, Azerbaijan
Aug 19 2004

EBRD refutes reports on operations in Upper Garabagh

Local media have released reports saying that the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is operating or funding
operations in Upper Garabagh.

On Thursday the EBRD office in Baku said that these reports are
inaccurate, as the bank is not involved in financing such operations.
In 2002, EBRD provided a $3 million loan to the Armenian Copper
Program (ACP), a closed joint-stock company operating in Armenia. The
owner of ACP is Valery Medzhlumian, a Yerevan-based entrepreneur with
business interests in Armenia and Russia, according to the EBRD Baku
office.

Medzhlumian also owns a company in Upper Garabagh. The EBRD means
have not been used to finance this business. The Bank has also taken
steps to ensure that its loan to the ACP is not used for operations
in Upper Garabagh.