YEREVAN, February 24, /ARKA/.Bank VTB (Armenia) said today it has signed a long-term partnership agreement with Russian-owned Electrical Networks of Armenia distributing company to handle its special bank account.

Bank VTB (Armenia) CEO Valery Ovsyanikov was quoted in a Bank’s press release as saying that the Electrical Networks of Armenia is one of its major corporate clients.

‘We are delighted to deepen our relations with the Electrical Networks of Armenia. Within the frameworks of this agreement Bank VTB Armenia plans to diversify the range of its products,’ he was quoted as saying.

Yevgeny Bibin, the recently appointed chief executive of the Electrical Networks of Armenia was quoted as saying that the company’s current strategy is aimed at raising its efficiency and optimization of constructive relations with the banking sector. He said also the agreement is very important for the company in terms of seeking new financial instruments for business building and expansion of cooperation scheme with Bank VTB (Armenia).

Bank VTB (Armenia) implements the company’s short and-long term financing of its current operations and investment projects along with providing bank guarantees.

Providing services to corporate clients is a key direction of Bank VTB (Armenia’s) operation. It guarantees its clients swift handling of their transactions and a flexible price policy.

The Electrical Networks of Armenia owns and runs Armenia’s low and medium voltage distribution networks and has an exclusive license for electricity transmission across the country. It has 948,000 clients and is one of the largest corporate taxpayers. Its parent company is Russia’s

Inter RAO UES. According to its financial documents the company made 25.1 billion Drams ($69 million) in profits last year, sharply up from 16.7 billion Drams posted in 2009 and 11 billion Drams in 2008.

VTB Bank Armenia is an important player in the local banking sector of Armenia with the largest branch network (68) in the country. It is fully owned by the second largest Russian state-owned bank VTB Group. -0-