YEREVAN, January 28. / ARKA / 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 on-lending to small and medium companies (SMEs), the EBRD press-release stated.

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 to the Armenia’s financial sector.
According to the statement, the EBRD financing will diversify ArmSwissBank’s funding base and will 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 companies through guaranteeing their international trade finance and factoring obligations and providing pre-export and post-import financing, as well as financing of working capital needed to conclude foreign trade contracts, and other facilities.

“The EBRD is pleased to support further development of ArmSwissBank, an important player in the Armenian banking sector, which is contributing to the diversification of the financial infrastructure in the country. This transaction will help increase the availability of the 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 USD$100 million extension to the Bank’s $120 million 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 and non banking financial institutions for on-lending to commercial customers. Since the facility was launched in 2006, over $110 million was disbursed to 11 banks and non-banking financial institutions operating in Armenia.

As of today, the 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 718 confirming banks spread around the world. Since inception over 290 transactions in the total amount of over USD 25 million were concluded under 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. –0-