Anelik Bank launches a completely new loan approach to the market - potential borrowers will form the interest rate

ArmInfo. Anelik Bank launches an entirely new approach to corporate lending to the Armenian banking market, whereby potential borrowers can independently form interest rates on a competitive basis. First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Anelik Bank Sergey Virabyan announced on July 12 at a press conference, said.

"In recent months, there have been a lot of discussions about what kind of proposal the Bank can surprise the market, what new approaches can be applied. As a result, a pilot program was developed, which has no analogues in the banking system of any country," stressed S. Virabyan. He noted that the Bank intends to apply this approach to other types of lending. Under the new approach, he explained, Anelik Bank will create a platform for the formation of a real market interest rate.

S. Virabyan said that the cost of the pilot program will be $ 1 million, under which the minimum loan amount to borrowers is set at $ 50 thousand, and the maximum - $ 250 thousand. Loans to legal entities will be granted with a maturity of 60 months. "Within the program, potential borrowers need to set the desired interest rate, starting from 7.7%, in their bids, which will be presented in closed envelopes of the Bank's Commission on September 4. As a result of the competition, the Commission will choose the highest of the proposed ones, which will act for the applicants," he explained. According to the deputy head of the Board, the competition will be open to the legal entity that meets the criteria established by the Bank.

Head of the Corporate Product Development Department of the Bank Anelik Hayk Tumanyan noted that the deadline for submitting applications is from July 20 to August 20. According to him, the program does not provide for any restrictions on the number of applicants and their areas of activity. He stressed that the program is being implemented to encourage small and medium-sized businesses in Armenia. The publication of the results of the contest will be held in the presence of its participants, representatives of the bank and other officials. In his interview with the correspondent of ArmInfo A. Tumanyan stated that after changes in the structure of the shareholders, the Bank changed its strategy somewhat, which previously focused on the development of retail business. "We have ambitious plans. Today we changed direction, choosing a balanced development of retail and corporate portfolios due to market aggregation and attractiveness of lending to individuals and legal entities," he stressed. In this regard, A. Tumanian said that in the near future Anelik Bank will come up with new proposals, presenting interesting and profitable products for both retail and corporate clients.

According to the Financial Rating of Armenian Banks, prepared by IA ArmInfo, the volume of credit investments of the Bank Anelik increased in 2016 in 3.6 times to 218.8 billion AMD, of which retail loans accounted for about 13% or 27.7 billion AMD, while corporate loans accounted for 86% or 188.1 billion AMD. Moreover, the bank provided such growth in credit investments due to a significant increase in the corporate portfolio (almost 6 times), sharply jumping up close to the top three leaders both in the general portfolio and corporate. This growth in the loan portfolio allowed the bank to increase assets in the reporting year by 3 times - up to 283.5 million AMD. As a result, the share of the loan portfolio in the structure of the bank's assets increased from 68% to 77%. Net profit increased by 5.3 times to Anelik Bank for 1.2 billion AMD in 2016.

To remind. Anelik Bank has been operating on the market since October 1996. After the additional share issue in November 2016, the membership of the Bank's shareholders changed - the entry of the Cypriot company FISTOCO LTD with a stake of 59.68% reduced the share of the former shareholder represented by the Lebanese Bank CreditBank S.A.L from 100% to 40.32%. Indirect majority shareholders are physical persons: Tarek J. Khalefe (CreditBank S.A.L) and Vartan Dilanyan (FISTOCO LTD).