YEREVAN, October 26. /ARKA/. The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank is considering room for extending loans to three Armenian banks, BSTDB President Andrey Kondakov said Tuesday in Yerevan answering the question ARKA News Agency put to him.

“We are trying to deal with those banks controlled by Armenian investors and capital,” he said. “I find it more interesting than financing branches of large western banks.”

Refraining from pointing out particular banks, Kondakov expressed hope that appropriate contracts would be signed very soon.

The BSTDB cooperates with three Armenian banks – ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, Inecobank and Armeconombank.

The head of the BSTDB said that the bank has also a client producing foods.

This client asked for a recurrent loan from the bank, and the bank administration is considering this request now.

Kondakov also said that there were some interesting projects on real estate.

“We have started discussing them,” he said. “If all of them are implemented, our portfolio in Armenia will grow a great deal. The results of our negotiations give us grounds for thinking that these deals will be successful.”

Giving a high mark to the BSTDB’s cooperation with the public sector, Kondakov said that the bank has no projects with Armenian governmental and municipal institutions so far.

“If we receive such proposals, we’ll consider them with pleasure.”

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank is an international non-governmental organization connected with the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.

Russia, Greece and Turkey have 16.5% each in the bank’s authorized capital, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine 13.5% each, Albania and Azerbaijan 2% each and Armenia, Georgia and Moldova 1%.

The bank’s top-priority focus is the financing of projects in energy, transport and industry sectors as well as crediting of trade deals.

The BSTDB has financed 220 projects totaling $3 million since 1999.

Now the active portfolio of real projects amounts to $1.5 billion.

Ten active projects worth $70 million are being implemented in Armenia now. -0-