YEREVAN, June 21. / ARKA /. In order to assist thousands of farmers in Armenia’s Armavir province whose crops were destroyed by a powerful hailstorm on May 12 the ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK has donated 41 million drams to a special fund set up by the government as part of its efforts to repair the devastation caused to the region’s agriculture. Of that amount 11 million were raised by the Bank’s staff, ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK said in a press release today.

According to the press release, the Bank is working currently to extend the repayment period of outstanding loans that were provided to farmers in 45 rural communities, to establish individual repayment schedules, as well as offer additional lending. These processes are expected to be completed in June and July, it said.

"Agricultural lending has always been a priority of the Bank, and to this day ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK is the leader in this sector, providing annually more than 30 billion drams in agricultural loans," the press release said.

Some 46 provincial villages were seriously affected by the hail that damaged crops on 17,000 hectares of land . In many of them, farmers lost entire anticipated harvests, their sole sources of revenue this year. The government estimated the damage at 25 billion drams.

ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK (formerly the Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia, ACBA) was established in 1996 as part of EU’s TACIS Program. Its major shareholders are the French Credit Agricole SA -15.56%, SACAM International joint stock company -12.44%, as well as farmers’ mutual aid associations in 10 regions of Armenia.($ 1 - 410.41 drams). -0-