PROCREDIT BANK OPENS ITS ARMENIA BRANCH
ARMENPRESS
Feb 5, 2008
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS: Tigran Sarkisian, the Chairman of
the Central Bank of Armenia; Vartan Sukiasyan, ProCredit Bank’s
first client, a local small business owner who opened a savings
account with the bank; and Bertolt Hertzfeldt, the General Manager
of ProCredit, opened today ProCredit Armenia bank that will serve
the small businesses and "ordinary people" of Armenia.
ProCredit Bank said in a press release it will seek to be a
"neighborhood bank" which will serve the local community in Armenia.
It said ProCredit Bank in Armenia, like the ProCredit institutions
in all other countries where the group operates, will be a
customer-oriented, socially responsible bank, providing high-quality
and affordable services to ordinary people, placing emphasis on lending
to very small, small, and medium-sized businesses and developing a
savings culture among ordinary people.
"We will be your bank around the corner that offers the best service
to all its customers. We welcome everyone to start saving with us or
to take out a loan to develop his or her business. The whole ProCredit
team is looking forward to starting operations in Armenia. We want
to be your neighborhood bank and a bank that makes a difference,"
said the General Manager of ProCredit Bank, Bertolt Hertzfeldt.
ProCredit Bank will focus on lending to very small, small and
medium-sized enterprises, as it is convinced that these businesses
create the largest number of jobs and make a vital contribution to
the economic development of Armenia. The bank will offer business
loans starting from USD 100 for small entrepreneurs and transparent
banking services for private individuals, such as saving accounts
with no minimum deposit amount.
The Central Bank of Armenia granted ProCredit Bank a license to conduct
banking operations in Armenia on December 7, 2007. The shareholders
of ProCredit Bank are ProCredit Holding AG, the majority shareholder,
with a 66.66% stake; KfW, which holds 16.67% of the shares; and the
EBRD, which holds 16.67% of the shares. By the end of 2008 ProCredit
Bank Armenia will be represented in three regions of Armenia with
six branches: four in Yerevan, one in Vanadzor, and one in Artashat.
ProCredit Bank in Armenia is part of the ProCredit group, which
consists of 22 financial institutions in Eastern Europe, Africa,
and Latin America.
ProCredit Bank Armenia has a staff of 120 people.