YEREVAN, November 12. / ARKA /. The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) signed November 11 a loan agreement with Ardshininvestbank, according to which this Armenian bank will receive US $10 million for five years to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Armenia.

The agreement was signed by Dmitry Krasilnikov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board at EDB, and Mher Grigoryan, Chairman of the Management Board at Ardshininvestbank, EDB said in a statement.

Ardshininvestbank will select sub-borrowers on its own from SMEs who meet EDB criteria and provide them targeted sub-loans for the advancement of their businesses.

The project will help to create and develop favourable conditions for the sustainable advancement of SMEs, the enhancement of competition, and the improvement of SME competitiveness in domestic and foreign markets. It is being implemented in the framework of EDB-run Programme for the Support and Development of SMEs by Providing Targeted Loan Facilities to Financial Institutions.

“The development of SMEs is critical for boosting economy as a whole and we are confident that this project will contribute to this,” says Dmitry Krasilnikov. “In addition, in accordance with the Bank’s strategy for 2013-2014, the provision of finance to the banking sector for its sub-lending to SMEs is among the Bank’s investment priorities in Armenia.”

“I appreciate that the loan provided by EDB will foster the development of the Armenian private sector by expanding access for SMEs to long-term finance. Today EDB unites its efforts with one of the largest financial institutions, which has strong positions in the domestic market and works with small, micro, and medium-sized businesses, among other clients. This agreement is a good start for cooperation between EDB and Ardshininvestbank, which will surely strengthen and expand in the future,” says Mher Grigoryan, Chairman of the Management Board at Ardshininvestbank.
Ardshininvestbank was founded in 2002. It has a network of 55 branches and is one of Armenia’s largest banks. It also has a stable SME clientele.

Its assets as of October 1, 2014 stood at over 273.1 billion drams, liabilities – at 226 billion drams, credit investments – at 182.9 billion drams and its capital – at 47.1 billion drams. The bank earned 4 billion drams in net profit in the third quarter, a 2.06 percent reduction from the third quarter of 2013.

The Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. EDB’s charter capital exceeds US $1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.  ($1- 415.3 drams).  -0-