YEREVAN, December 23, /ARKA/. A former Armenian prime minister Hrant Bagratian urged the government today to reorganize the first Pan-Armenian Bank into an investment bank and grant it also an investment fund status.

Speaking at a news conference he said if the Pan-Armenian Bank acts as an ordinary bank that registers with the Central Bank and acts in the same legal environment with other local commercial banks, it will only impede the latter’s work.

He claimed that the Pan-Armenian Bank as it has been established is a meaningless endeavor, especially that the government will allocate money for its charter capital ignoring the dire social and economic conditions.

‘If the government has decided to put public money in this bank it should secure their return with interests, but this is not real because the Pan-Armenian Bank will in fact finance a number of unprofitable projects,’ he said.

The chartered capital of the pan-Armenian Bank is 30 billion Drams (about $100 million). The government will have a 20 percent stake in it and the remaining shares will be divided among leading international financial organizations and private investors. Its goal is to help shape a strong, competitive and knowledge-based Armenian potential across the globe. -0-