Armenian economy to consume 60.5 billion drams from Russian loan

YEREVAN, September 18, /ARKA/. A deputy minister of finance, Vardan
Aramian, said today the Armenian economy is expected to consume about
60.5 billion Drams of the Russian stabilization loan. On June 12 Russia
transferred a $500 million loan in one tranche to the Central Bank of
Armenia.

The Russian loan was provided at Libor +3% interest rate to help the
government stabilize the economy.

The deputy minister said if all 60.5 billion Drams of the Russian loan
are consumed before the end of the year that would signify a positive
trend. He said 15 billion Drams of that money have been allocated
already as credits by banks. He said some 300-500 million Drams were
made available as mortgage credits and $44 million were extended to
mining companies in Armenian south.

Last June during a special government meeting held in Kapan, the
capital of the southeastern Syunik region, the government approved $44
million in loans to three mining companies. The loans are repayable in
four to five years. One of the loans worth $14 million went to a copper
and molybdenum plant in Agarak, a small town on the Armenian-Iranian
border.

The two other firms, Zangezur Mining and Armenia Molybdenum Production,
got $15 million each. They both hold 12.5 percent stakes in the
Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), the country’s largest
metallurgical enterprise based in Kajaran, about 40 kilometers north of
Agarak. The rest of the ZCMC stock is controlled by the German metals
group Cronimet.

`The government has exhausted its set of instruments, the money is
channeled to the banks and it is very important that they ensure
aggressive injection of these funds into the real sector economy,’ he
said.($1 ` 381.52 Drams). M.M. -0-

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress