STATE INVESTMENT COMPANY TO BE CREATED IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-05-06 14:26:00

"Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center"
Fund (SMEDNC) intends to submit an application to the Central Bank
of Armenia till late May for registration of an investment company,
Executive Director of SMEDNC Fund Ishkhan Karapetyan said responding
to ArmInfo’s question.

According to him, the company will be created on the basis of SMEDNC
Financial Assistance Department and will have another name. "Demand for
financing of the companies’ capital is growing continually and the Fund
will offer flexible project implementation mechanisms. So, the state
assumes all the risks of possible business fiasco", I. Karapetyan
emphasized. He refrained from indicating the specific size of the
authorized capital of the company to be created and said only that it
will range from $1 mln to $20 mln. Moreover, he said, negotiations with
different foreign investors, representatives of financial structures,
as well as local companies are held to attract them to the capital.

As I. Karapetyan recalled, it is envisaged to allocate 573.5 mln drams
from the state budget of Armenia for implementation of SMEDNC projects
for 2009. Moreover, within the frames of its activity, SMEDNC rendered
assistance to a number of enterprises over the first four months for
attraction of new financial resources from the state to the sum of
1.3 bln drams.

Under SMEDNC, for the first quarter of 009 the credit portfolio of
the fund totaled 122.1 million drams. Over the first quarter of 2009
20 credits guarantees for 73 million drams were provided under the
program. The share of satisfied applications of regional borrowers
was the largest – 69%. SMEDNC was founded in 2002. It is the first
national structure empowered to render state assistance to development
of SMEs in Armenia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress