YEREVAN, April 10. / ARKA /. The Russian-owned VTB Bank (Armenia) increased  lending to individual customers in 2012 to 5 billion drams, a 33% increase from the previous year, according to Vsevolod Smakov, deputy chairman of the Russian VTB 24, the parent company of VTB Bank (Armenia).

Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today he said this allowed the Bank to become the second-largest in Armenia in terms of individual deposits with a market share of about 10%, the first by the number of issued plastic cards with a share of about 45%, and also first in acquiring cards with about 30 percent share of the market.
"Armenia is a priority region for us; we pay a lot of attention to it as it shows very good results,"  he said.

VTB Bank (Armenia) CEO, Yuri Gusev, said its share in retail lending grew to 13.6% in 2012. He said also the loan portfolio  saw a sizeable growth last year. The lending to small businesses grew by 44.5%, the retail lending grew by 33%, and the volume of deposits surged by 54% along with customer base. “All this allows us to have a foothold to develop retail lending in 2013-2014 year," he said.

Gusev said more detailed information about the performance of VTB Bank (Armenia) in 2012 will be available shortly.

"In terms of strategic priorities for this year, the main focus will be on development of pos-crediting and lending to SMEs.

VTB Bank (Armenia) is owned fully by Russian VTB Group. It runs 69 branches across Armenia, more than any other local bank. ($ 1 - 418.31 drams). -0-