YEREVAN, October 26, /ARKA/. Andrei Kondakov, president of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), said today in Yerevan the Bank t has provided a total of $70 million worth loans for implementation of 10 projects in Armenia. For comparison he said Armenia holds only a 1% stake in the Bank’s capital, while its share in the bank’s credit portfolio is 5%.

“Not a bad return. It appears that for every paid-in dollar Armenia received 14 Dollars of investments ,’ he told a news conference in Yerevan.

Andrei Kondakov arrived in Armenia Monday on a courtesy visit after being appointed to the post in July.

‘Armenia is a respected member of the BSTDB and we are developing our partnership quite successfully. We have interesting projects here underway and have also similar plans for the future,’ he said.

Vardan Aramian, a deputy Armenian finance minister, the national BSTDB director, said the Bank has provided loans to support Armenian small and medium-sized companies.

Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Bank supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing trade and project financing, guarantees, and equity for development projects supporting both public and private enterprises in its member countries.

Russia, Turkey and Greece hold 16.5% of stake each, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine -13.5% each, Albania and Azerbaijan hold 2% stake each, while Armenia, Georgia and Moldova 1% each. Since 1999 the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank has financed implementation of 200 projects worth $2.1 billion. BSTDB cooperates with Armenian ACBA Credit Agricole Bank, Inecobank and Armeconombank. -0-