EBRD SUPPORTS PRIVATE BUSINESSES IN ARMENIA

penki.lt
1/29/2010

The EBRD is increasing the availability of financing to private
businesses in Armenia with a $5 million credit line and a $3 million
trade finance facility to ArmSwissBank for small and medium companies
(SMEs).

Established in 2004, ArmSwissBank is a dynamically growing financial
institution, operating as a private, corporate and investment bank,
with a strong emphasis on brokerage services and liquidity management
for Armenia’s financial sector.

The EBRD financing will diversify ArmSwissBank’s funding base and
support its strategy to develop its SME lending activities. The
proceeds of the EBRD credit line will be on-lent to small and medium
entrepreneurs in Armenia.

In addition the EBRD is extending a $3 million trade finance facility
to ArmSwissBank under its Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), which
will allow ArmSwissBank to enhance the support provided to local
import-export oriented companies by guaranteeing their international
trade finance and factoring obligations and providing pre-export and
post-export financing, as well as financing of working capital needed
to conclude foreign trade contracts, and other facilities.

"The EBRD is pleased to support the further development of
ArmSwissBank, an important player in the Armenian banking sector,
which is contributing to the diversification of the country’s financial
infrastructure. This transaction will help increase the availability
of much-needed financing for small and medium private companies in
Armenia and will offer a boost to the development of capital markets
in the country", said Valeriu Razlog, Head of EBRD Office in Armenia.

The EBRD loan is part of the Bank’s Armenia Multi-Bank Framework
Facility II, aimed at supporting the increase of financial
intermediation in Armenia through medium-term credit lines to local
commercial banks for on-lending to commercial customers. Since the
facility was launched in 2006, over $110 million was disbursed to 11
banks operating in Armenia.

The EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Program involves over 120 issuing banks
in 20 of the EBRD’s countries of operation, including 7 in Armenia,
as well as around 720 confirming banks around the world. To date
the Bank has financed over 290 trade finance transactions with total
amount of more than $25 million under the TFP in Armenia.

Overall, since the beginning of its operations in Armenia, the EBRD
has committed over ~@335 million in approximately 70 projects in the
financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors.