YEREVAN, June 27. /ARKA/. Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) president Andrei Kondakov, praised Armenian authorities for ‘significant improvement of investment climate over the past ten years.’ In an exclusive interview with ARKA news agency Mr. Kondakov said Armenian companies have become more transparent and understandable to investors and the best have mastered the basics of modern business.

Kondakov said it is easy now to find here companies that operate transparently, are being audited by foreign firms having also introduced modern corporate governance practices.

"These companies understand us, and they are our good partners,» he stressed.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB ) is an international financial institution established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The BSTDB headquarter is in Thessaloniki, Greece. BSTDB supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, credit lines, equity and guarantees for projects and trade financing in the public and private sectors in its member countries. The authorized capital of the Bank is SDR 3 billion (aapx. 3.5 billion euro). BSTDB is rated long-term “a” by Standard and Poor’s and “A3” by Moody’s. Since its inception in 1999 the Bank has financed 12 projects in Armenia worth 50 million euros and plans to double this amount by 2015. Armenia’s share in BSTDB’s capital is 1% -0-