YEREVAN, March 23, /ARKA/. Armenian Ardshininvestbank 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.

The press service of Ardshininvestbank told ARKA that the official signing ceremony of the agreement took place at OFID’s headquarters 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,” Nerses 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.  -0-