A working meeting was held in Armenian Agriculture Ministry  with representatives of Armenian banking system aimed at deepening cooperation

ArmInfo. Armenian Agriculture Minister Ignatiy Araqelyan within the working session met with the representatives of the banking system of Armenia, in particular, with the head of the department of stability and development of the banking system of Armenian Central Bank Andranik Grigoryan, General Director of ACBA Credit-Agricole Bank Hakob Andreasyan and the Director General of VTB Bank (Armenia) Yuri Gusev.

According to Armenian Agriculture Ministry statement, during  the working visit  the participants discussed the state program on subsidizing interest rates for introducing drip irrigation systems.  "Agriculture is a risk in terms of investment. Our program is also aimed at attracting participants who will apply new technologies and more efficiently conduct agriculture, "Agriculture Ministry head Ignatiy Araqelyan said.

At the same time, the meeting participants discussed issues related to financing the rental of agricultural equipment, in particular, state support program for leasing, subsidizing interest rates,agricultural loans, a pilot program for the introduction of insurance system in the agro sector, partial subsidization of interest rates on agro credits for the purpose of harvesting (purchasing) agricultural raw materials, etc., within which, according to the Minister, cooperation is envisaged.

According to Armenian Agriculture Ministry data, during  the current year, under the current state program, agricultural loans were subsidized at a rate of 8%, and it was already possible to provide loans for 700 million AMD. To note, the state program on subsidizing interest rates for agricultural loans started in Armenia in April 2011. Loans within the framework of this state program are provided at 14% per annum, of which 4-6% are subsidized by the Government. The maturity date of the loan is 3 years . In 2011 - 2015 about 99,000 loans were granted to farmers in the total amount of 84.2 billion AMD at a rate of 14% annually. From this rate 4% were subsidized by 2015, and 6% in the 225 most disadvantaged villages.  Since 2015, 6% have been applied to all individual farmers. Only in 2015, 15.2 billion AMD were subsidized for agricultural loans. The most active participants of this state program are ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, Ardshinbank and Converse Bank.

According to the Financial Rating of Armenian Banks for January 1, 2017, prepared by IC ArmInfo, ACBA-Credit Agricole traditionally leads the portfolio of agricultural loans - in the credit portfolio of the bank, this sector accounts for over 37%. In the total agricultural credits of the banking system, the share of ACBA- Credit Agricole Bank dominates - over 52%. But the bank is not limited by the agricultural sector, actively financing such spheres as SMEs, industry and trade, public catering and services, while being leaders and retail lending. "ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank" CJSC has been operating in Armenia since 1995.  Since September 2006, the largest European banking group Credit Agricole SA has been the majority shareholder of the bank. With a share in the capital of 15.56%, after which by the amount of participation follows Sacam International joint stock company JSC "" (member of the group Credit Agricole S.A)- 12.44%, along with which there are 10 regional Unions of Peasant Mutual Assistance (SLE) in the capital.  In terms of coverage of the branch network, the bank is included in the TOP-5, and by the number of regional branches - in the top three.