YEREVAN, May 21. / ARKA /. VTB Bank (Armenia) has nearly doubled lending to individual customers over the last two years to 100 billion drams, its CEO, Yuri Gusev, told a news conference today.

He compared this figure to a 35.5% increase in the past year when the total lending to individuals rose to 88 billion drams, making the Russian-owned bank second in Armenia in terms of retail lending.

According to Gusev, in 2013 the bank held 15 percent of the local retail lending. In the second quarter of this year the figure rose to 15.8 percent.

According to him, in 2013 the bank was the leader in terms of individual deposits. Gusev said this indicator was evidence of an increased confidence in the bank. He said also the main objective of the bank last year was to remodel the retail lending.

“Our task was to change the face of the bank. We have completely changed the branch network by having installed new principles of operation and new high-tech tools. The other objective was to increase the share of retail lending and deposits. We have achieved it too," Gusev said.

He said the bank earned a record high operating profit from retail business activities in 2013. Particularly, net interest income amounted to 11.5 billion drams, while net commission income grew to 1.39 billion drams.

VTB Bank (Armenia) is owned fully by Russian VTB Group. It runs 67 branches in Armenia, more than any other bank. ($ 1 - 412.89 drams). -0-