YEREVAN, June 21. /ARKA/. Armenia has successfully withstood the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSECO) President Andrey Kondakov said Thursday at a news conference in Yerevan.

“We think Armenia successfully handles global challenges,” he said. “In 2009, Armenia faced the least, 14-percent decline, among BSECO member countries.”

Kondakov said that Armenia’s economy is on the recovery track today. He said the country’s economy is showing a stable growth, and its foreign debt is quite controllable.

The BSECO president said that business environment has improved a great deal in Armenia. He said the country has also reached considerable success in Doing Business ranking, compared with other BSECO countries.

Kondakov considers the latest forecasts of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who, taking into account possible adverse impacts of things in Europe and Russia on Armenia’s economy, have lowered their outlooks for the country’s economic growth by 0.2%, as a slight decrease.

“We are positive about things in Armenia’s economy and are ready to enlarge our financing,” he said.

The Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization has financed 12 projects in Armenia since 1999 by providing €50 million to the country and intends to double this figure before 2015.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank is an international financial organization established for supporting BSECO member countries’ development and cooperation among them.

The objectives of the bank are the development of trade relations in the region, facilitating the implementation of international projects, the promotion of foreign investment, providing guarantees for the development of trade and economic relations both at the state level as well as in private business.

Armenia’s share in the bank’s portfolio is 3.6% and that in the bank’s capital is 1%. -0---