YEREVAN, December 3, /ARKA/. Ameriabank announced today it has been selected by The Banker magazine, owned by The Financial Times daily, as the Armenian Bank of the Year.

According to a press release by Ameriabank, the awards for 2010 were handed out during a ceremony in London on 2 December. More than 500 commercial banks competed for the awards. The Banker is the world's premier banking and finance magazine, and is read in 150 countries around the world.

According to the press release, the Banker magazine considered several major criteria like assets growth rates, a wide range of services, the least volume of idle loans secured by means of a flexible system of risks, successful attraction of loans from leading international lending organizations, channeled into development of renewable energy projects, a successful merger with Cascade bank and innovative approaches to recognize Ameriabank as the Bank of the Year. A representative of Ameriabank was awarded a certificate and a special prize.

Ameriabank is owned by TDA Holding, an affiliation of a large Russian investment company Troika Dialog. It has nine branches in Armenia.  -0-