EQUITY OF CASCADE CAPITAL HOLDINGS FINANCIAL GROUP EXCEEDED USD 17 MILLION

Yerevan, January 25. ArmInfo. The equity of the Cascade Capital
Holdings financial group comprised USD 17 million at the beginning of
the current year, informed the CCH CEO Jonathan Stark in his interview
with ArmInfo. He stressed that the borrowings of CCH as of the date
totaled USD18 million, including the debt from EBRD and the World
Bank under various projects.

CCH includes Cascade Bank CJSC, Cascade Bank Georgia CJSC, Cascade
Insurance ICJSC, Cascade Credit Universal Credit Organization CJSC,
Cascade Investments CJSC and Cascade Equity Managers CJSC. CCH is
owned by the US businessman Gerard L. Cafesjian through the US-based
Cafesjian Family Foundation.

According to Jonathan Stark, the target debt and equity of CCH will
reach USD 40 million shortly; intensive negotiations are under way
with international organizations with regard to involvement of CCH
operational units in new projects. He specifically emphasized the
importance of the Bank winning the tender for servicing the cash
flows on the Millennium Challenges Account during 5 years in the total
amount of USD 236 million. "That was a fair competition, and we were
able to offer the best conditions and schemes to the Client;," – stated
Jonathan Stark. According to him, Cascade Bank demonstrates significant
added value since acquisition . As the result of this, the Bank became
a member of the KfW German Development Bank mortgage program; it is
intensively improving the services and building the infrastructure. The
Bank has further developed the E-banking system, and is planning to
offer innovative local ArCa chip cards and MasterCards to its clients.

The Head of CCH expressed his satisfaction with the work of Cascade
Credit, which accomplished the placement of the first private sector
notes in the total amount of USD 400,000 in the open market last
October. "The proceeds from the placement are used for extension
of export orientated loansl. We are currently preparing the second
tranche of notes and are anticipating amendments to the placement
and trading regulations by the Central Bank of Armenia, due to which
natural persons will have the right to purchase the notes," stated
Jonathan Stark. He highly appreciated the participation of Cascade
Credit in the Renewable Energy Program funded by the World Bank and
EBRD. The Company has targeted 20 individual projects; is already
involved in 6, of which 3 projects have already received funds.

According to Jonathan Stark, Cascade Insurance is becoming one of
the leading and most reliable insurance companies in Armenia. The
owner of 35 % of the equity of the Company is EBRD. "It is better
for an insurance company to create horizontal spread in its account,
rather than being dependent on one or two major customers. " stressed
the Head of CCH, emphasizing the actions taken by the regulator –
the CBA in terms of rationalizing the local insurance market into
fewer stronger players.

With regard to Cascade Investment’s development of savings and pensions
products, particularly pension annuities, Jonathan Stark described it
as "the most difficult project from a psychological perspective." "It
is absolutely a new concept for Armenia. We are prepared to be the
first in the market by the time the concept of alternative pension
security gets a start in life," he stated.

Nonetheless, he added that a total amount of USD 2 million had
already been transferred to the Company for trust management. "This
is the money that people entrusted us for management. Through
Cascade Investments, we can attract capital inflows to Armenia
targeting both domestic and Diasporan investors,who are able to keep
continuous track of their cash flows," said the Head of CCH. "If the
US Government trusts us with their money, individuals can feel secure
with Cascade". As Mr. Stark informed, CCH is seriously considering
the regional expansion opportunities with major focus on efficiency
across all subdivisions. "While studying the opportunities of opening
subsidiaries, we are not only oriented on the bank operations,
but also on the business potential of our "financial supermarket"
(one-stop shop) to provide a comprehensive package of services relating
to loans, savings, insurance, pension security and so on," he stated.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress