ARDSHININVESTBANK AND OFID SIGN A US$10 MILLION LOAN AGREEMENT.
595563/lang/en
2010-03-23
YEREVAN
Ardshininvestba nk and the OPEC Fund for International Development
(OFID) signed a US$10 million loan agreement. The loan is provided
for 7 years to support the bank in its programs for SME financing.
Press service of Ardshininvestbank told Armenpress that the official
signing ceremony of the agreement took place at OFID’s headquarter
in Vienna. The agreement was signed by Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish,
the Director-General of The OPEC Fund for International Development
and Nerses Karamanukyan, the Chairman of the Management Board of
Ardshininvestbank.
"This is a long-term line of credit which will create opportunities
for contributing to the development of local SMEs and will support
them in overcoming the impact of tough economic situation. The
bank aims at continuously expanding its scope of cooperation with
international financial institutions to attract more external financial
resources and support the economic stability of republic of Armenia,"
N. Karamanukyan said.
Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, General Manager of OPEC Fund
for International Development said that support for small and
medium sized enterprises is a key priority for OFID. "We know that
Ardshininvestbank is active in this sector and is thus a good partner
for OFID’s financing. We are confident that the Line of Credit will
assist Ardshininvestbank in expanding its services to the SME sector
so stimulating overall economic development," he noted.
Ardshininvestbank has 55 branches. Modern technologies and experience
enables the bank to render high-quality banking services; bank account
servicing, remittances, letters of credit, guarantees, collections,
transactions with checks, foreign currency, securities and cash.
Moody’s assigned to the bank Ba2 Long term and Not Prime short-term
global local currency deposit rating, Ba3 Long term and Not Prime
short-term foreign currency deposit rating and D- Bank financial
strength rating.
The bank was awarded ISO 9001:2000 international certificate on
Quality Management System.
OFID (OPEC Fund for International Development) was founded in 1976
by OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) countries
to provide assistance to the non-OPEC countries. OFID provides loans
for project and program financing and for balance of payments support,
participates in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative,
as well as provides financing through its trade finance facility.
Other types of financing include private sector financing,
grant programs as well as financial support to other international
organizations such as Common Fund for Commodities, International Fund
for Agricultural Development.