ArmInfo. Despite the difficulties of the financial order, 2020 will be quite fruitful in terms of cooperation with Armenia. On March 11 through a video conference "Regional Integration, Cooperation of the Eurasian Development Bank with the EAEU Countries" (Moscow-Yerevan-Minsk- Chisinau), answering a question from ArmInfo correspondent, head of the EDB Andrey Belyaninov said.
In this regard, he emphasized that the EDB is strongly interested in expanding cooperation with the banks of Armenia, which will contribute to the development of the country's economy. Belyaninov said that in the developments for 2020 there are several projects in Armenia. However, the head of the EDB did not disclose details, because, according to him, the projects have not yet passed all the credit committees of the Bank.
At the same time, he praised the state of the banking system of Armenia, largely emphasizing the role of the Regulator in this process. Belnyaninov noted that today the EDB is cooperating with some commercial banks in Armenia, in particular, Ameriabank, Converse Bank and Ardshinbank. However, the joint projects related to lending to SMEs, according to him, are not very capacious, due to the excessive caution applied.
In addition, Belyaninov recalled the financing by the Bank of "Electric Networks of Armenia" CJSC in the amount of $ 17 million, the acquisition of bonds of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC). Speaking about the deal with debt securities of the largest mining company in Armenia (ZCMC), the issue of which was carried out in October last year for a total of $ 50 million, the head of the EDB stressed: We intend to work more closely, including financing the current activities of the enterprise. Since the market is very promising, we would like to take part in it>.
It should be noted that as of mid-2019, the accumulated EDB investment portfolio in Armenia is $ 208 million. The current investment portfolio is about $ 91 million.
To recall, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution established by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the aim of promoting the development of a market economy of the participating countries, their sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and economic ties. EDB's registered capital is $ 7 billion. The Bank's member states are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan.
