US Fed News
June 11, 2008 Wednesday 12:57 AM EST

OPIC LOAN SUPPORTS EXPANSION OF MORTGAGE LENDING IN ARMENIA

WASHINGTON

The Overseas Private Investment Corp. issued the following press
release:

A loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Company
Profile (OPIC) will enable a mortgage company in Armenia to expand its
residential mortgage lending, helping the country close a gap between
its growing construction sector and its limited financial services
industry.

OPIC has begun disbursement of a $5 million direct loan to
FirstMortgage Company (FMC), a non-banking financial institution based
in Yerevan, for a project approved by the agency in June
2007. Proceeds of the OPIC loan will be used to expand FMC’s provision
of long-term residential mortgage loans for the purchase,
construction, refinancing and renovation of homes in Armenia. Nishan
Atinizian, owner of FMC and a U.S. citizen, is the principal American
sponsor of the project.

OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr. noted that Armenia’s
construction sector has grown considerably in recent years – its share
of GDP rose 24.5 percent in 2006, and was nearly twice as high as
2004. That fact, coupled with ongoing legal and regulatory reforms to
the country’s financial services, could augur a new era of economic
growth in Armenia. However, the country remains under-banked and its
level of financial intermediation low.

"This project will help Armenia to bridge the gap between its growing
housing construction industry and its still-underdeveloped financial
services sector, by facilitating greater levels of home ownership and
the development of its long-term mortgage financing mechanisms,"
Mosbacher said. "By empowering Armenia’s nascent mortgage industry,
this project could potentially start a new engine of economic growth
in the country."

David Atanessian, CEO of FirstMortgage Company, said, "We are pleased
that OPIC and the FMC have joined forces in developing Armenia’s
emerging mortgage market. This loan will substantially enhance our
mortgage lending capability and will enable us to provide our clients
with multiple, long term and affordable mortgage lending products".

OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It
helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in
new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing
risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports
U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its
products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to
taxpayers.

OPIC’s political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of
all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing
nations worldwide. Over the agency’s 37-year history, OPIC has
supported $177 billion worth of investments that have helped
developing countries to generate over $13 billion in host-government
revenues and create over 800,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have
also generated $71 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than
271,000 American jobs.