Today Ameriabank signed a US$ 25 million financial support agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Andrew Mkrtchyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameriabank, described the project as “immensely important,” stressing that Ameriabank is honored to continue developing relationship with the EBRD, especially on the way to IPO.

“Our relationship is not just a financing cooperation. It’s actually a strategic partnership, which is lasting for more than a decade. It started back in 2010, which eventually evolved into EBRD investing in equity of Ameriabank and become a first IFI shareholder of Ameriabank,” the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameriabank said.

He also stressed that this is a very important project for Armenia and “will definitely have a multiple effect as far as impact is concerned. Andrew Mkrtchyan assured that Ameriabank will put its utmost efforts and the best to organize swift, efficient and successful utilization of the resources for the best of local business community in general and SMEs and women in business, in particular.

In turn, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus, said likewise for EBRD it is a great pleasure to be in a long-standing and excellent relationship with Ameriabank. She said this project has three very important components.

It’s “Women in Business” to support women-led entrepreneurship with advanced access to finance. It’s SME competitiveness for it will help local SMEs to meet EU standards, including green component. And it’s the SME line which will expand the lending to SMEs in Armenia.
 
“So it’s a great pleasure for us to support the project. We are likewise grateful to Sweden and to the EU for support in this joint endeavor, so thank you very much to our donors and we’ll be following to see all these small SME projects being implemented all over the country,” EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus said.

Artak Hanesyan, Ameriabank CEO, said today they are uniting their efforts for SME and Women in Business financing in Armenia.

“Our experience shows that women-led enterprises play key role in creating new jobs and driving economic growth. That’s why we believe that this fund for women in business is not only a gender issue but also will have a pretty much economic impact. Thus we need to increase financing to SME businesses in Armenia. I know that from 25 million facility 10 million will go to specially Women in Business financing and this facility will have also a technical part, which is going to be financed by the European Union and Sweden,” the bank’s CEO noted.

Davit Dilanyan, Political and Economic/Trade Affairs Officer at Embassy of Sweden in Yerevan, who also attended the event, said that Sweden has been supporting EBRD’s “Women in Business” program from 2014, and women’s economic empowerment and gender equality have been practiced for Sweden way longer.

“In this context I would like to say that Sweden is following and guided by feminist policy which means that gender equality and women’s empowerment are key and pivotal and central to what we are doing in various parts of the world, not the least in Armenia through development cooperation. Given the background of the coronavirus pandemic, while the economies recover and bounce back, there are more mid-term and long-term effects on the economy, not the least poverty, unemployment, and SMEs are playing a vital role in changing and recovering the economies.

And for this we are confident that EBRD’s know-how and tools and skills to open and facilitate access to capital and financial markets would be essential for Armenia. We are very delighted that EBRD is engaged in Armenia with this project and in order to have a more sustainable inclusive impact there should be also local ownership of the project. We are happy that there is a local partner in the name of Ameriabank with an extensive portfolio and projects. This will make the local ownership a reality. To conclude, I would like to once again congratulate you and appreciate EBRD for what you are doing in Armenia and wish you the best of luck,” Davit Dilanyan said in his speech.

Ara Sargsyan, Head of Financial Institutions Division at Ameriabank, said “this is a milestone event, since the credit facility is coming from our shareholder, by reinforcing a message to all of our partners, depositors and clients.”

“And that’s what we appreciate even more in doing business with EBRD. Teaming up with an anchor market player, on the other hand, will amplify the magnitude of EBRD’s impact in our country – delivering the very change we both want to make in our country,” Ara Sargsyan stressed.

Ameriabank is one of the leading banks in Armenia and ranked first by assets, loan portfolio and clients accounts and deposits. It is a major contributor to the Armenian economy, with assets exceeding AMD 1 trillion. Being a dynamically developing universal bank, Ameriabank provides a large package of innovative banking services through its omni-channel distribution platform and with clear focus on digital products. Ameriabank is committed to doing business responsibly and advancing Armenia’s transition towards a sustainable future. Since 2015 the EBRD is also a shareholder in the bank holding a 17.8 per cent stake.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Armenia. The Bank has invested more than €1.51 billion in 189 projects in the country’s financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors, with 88 per cent of those investments in the private sector.

About the European Union

The Member States of the European Union have decided to link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development while maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders.

The Small Business Impact Fund’s donors are Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, TaiwanBusiness – EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund and the United States.