INVESTMENTS IN BTA INVEST BANK TO MAKE 30 MLN DOLLARS BY LATE 2005

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, NOYAN TAPAN. On August 22, the presentation of BTA
Invest Bank (former Midinvestbank) took place. 48.9% of the bank
shares were acquired by Turan Alem Bank (Kazakhstan) in May
2005. According to Eric Sultankulov, Turan Alem Bank’s Financial
Director, it is envisaged to make investments of about 30 mln USD by
late 2005, including 10 mln USD in the sphere of mortgage crediting.

It was noted that as of June 30, BTA Invest Bank’s assets made 1 bln
118.9 mln drams (about 2.4 mln USD), its overall capital – 878.8 mln
drams with the authorized capital of 1.1 bln drams. To recap, under
CBA normatives, starting July 1, the minimum amount of the authorized
capital of the Armenian banks shall be 5 mln US dollar (in drams). The
assets of Turan Alem Bank – BTA Invest Bank’s biggest investor – make
about 5.5 bln USD, with its own capital exceeding 600 mln USD. The
bank’s partners are BTA-Kazan (Russia), BTA Trans Bank (Ukraine),
Astana Eximbank (Belarus) and BTA Silk Road Bank (Georgia). Besides
Turan Alem Bank, BTA Invset Bank’s shareholders are the Austrain
company ZRL (31.1%) and the Kazakhstanian-Armenian company Mobilex
(20%).