YEREVAN, September 8. /ARKA/. Unibank in conjunction with the German-Armenian Fund and the German bank KfW has launched a new program of business lending designed to improve the energy efficiency of local enterprises.

The beneficiaries of this program will not only get business loans on favorable terms, but also significantly reduce energy consumption at their enterprises, the Yerevan-based bank said in a press release today.

The project is designed for both private entrepreneurs and organizations operating in the fields of manufacturing, trade, construction, agriculture, transport, tourism, services and other industries.

"Energy-efficient loans are given in Armenian drams for a term of up to 60 months and 14% interest rate. Loan size ranges from one million drams to 500 million drams. Immovable property or vehicles are accepted as collateral, the bank said.

Depending on the characteristics of the market and business type Unibank offers its customers flexible and personalized repayment schedules. Early repayment is allowed without any restrictions.

According to Unibank Deputy Board Chairman David Petrosyan, when developing  its loan programs the bank takes into account the possibility of providing comprehensive assistance to SMEs, their needs and seasonal activities.

"That's why we started the cooperation with the German bank KfW and provided our customers with a new type of loan, which will allow businesses to receive available funds for the purchase of energy-saving equipment, increasing production capacity and upgrading technology,' he said.

According to Petrosyan, thanks to this approach, companies can reduce the amount of energy they consume, as well as increase their business efficiency and competitiveness.

"Terms of lending are accessible to a large number of entrepreneurs, while the package of required documents accelerates and facilitates the process of obtaining credit funds", he added.

Unibank was founded in October 2001. In 2002 it introduced Unistream system. Some 93.5% of its shares are held by Glover Holding LTD. ($ 1 - 474.96 drams). -0-