ARMENIAN ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK TO GET SECOND $20 MLN SYNDICATED CREDIT
December 14, 2007, AKRA Newswire

YEREVAN, December 14. /ARKA/. The Armenian ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank will get the second syndicated credit at $20mln. An agreement was signed between the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and international consortium, including the BZ BANK German banking group, Developing Worlds Markets American Investment Bank, as well as the Canadian Cordiant Capital Investment Fund, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank’s Executive General Stepan Gishyan reported.

He pointed out that EBRD allocated $7mln out of the total sum. The credit will be given to small and medium enterprises in Armenia, including villages.

“The advantage of a syndicated credit is that both international financial organizations and large enterprises enter Armenia’s market,” Gishyan said.

He believes this testifies to Armenia’s trustworthiness.

The maximal credit to Armenian borrowers is $300,000 with three years of credit payment term. Depending on the terms of financing, a flexible system of percentage rates works in Armenia, according to the bank’s Executive General.

This is the second syndicated credit to the banks. The bank signed its first credit agreement at $12mln with EBRD and the Citigroup Banking Group in August 2007 and the bank payed the credit in a month.

“The successful implementation of the program has predetermined this agreement,” Gishyan said.

The ACBA Credit Agricole Bank (formerly the Agricultural Cooperative Bank of Armenia) was founded in 1995 and was registered on March 29, 1996 under the EU program TACIS. In September 2006, the French banking group Credit Agricole purchased 28% of the bank’s stock, thus becoming its shareholder. The rest of the bank’s stock holdings belong to Armenian farmers’ unions.

According to official data, the bank’s capital totaled AMD 20.4bln on September 30, 2007. The bank’s assets amounted to AMD 68.9bln, the balance sheet profit being AMD 3.7bln. In January-September 2007, the bank’s profit totaled AMD 2.3bln.