EFSE provided two loans to INECOBANK for a total amount of $ 15  million for micro and small enterprises and mortgages 

ArmInfo. The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) has provided two loans to Inecobank, a longstanding partner institution in Armenia, to support the bank in  responding to the economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis the  official website of EFSE reports.  

As the EFSE report explains, one loan in the amount of USD 10 million  is earmarked for micro and small enterprise lending in order to  sustain the operations of these key businesses with much-needed  liquidity. The second, a local currency loan equivalent to USD 5  million, will respond to the demand for housing finance that  contributes to improved living standards in the country.  

Inecobank and EFSE have collaborated to expand access to financing  and promote economic development in Armenia since 2012. The bank is  well positioned to confront the effects of the current pandemic  through its solid track record, professional staff, and  market-leading IT infrastructure, including digital banking solutions  that enable uninterrupted operations for both the bank and its  clients. The new loan facilities will support Inecobank's continued  ability to provide longer-term financing to both businesses and  households, including in local currency, while strengthening the  institution's liquidity levels.  

EFSE Board Chairman Christoph Tiskens said: "As an important conduit  of micro and small enterprise finance, Inecobank has been a strategic  ally for EFSE in our goal to promote entrepreneurship in the region.  Today, business and homeowners rely more than ever on solid financial  infrastructure to help them weather challenging times, and we are  proud to be continuing our partnership with Inecobank."

To note, the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) was  established in 2005 with the aim of promoting the development of the  economy and general welfare in the countries of Southeast Europe, in  particular Albania, Armenia, Ukraine, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,  Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Georgia, Kosovo,  Moldova, Montenegro, Romania. The fund provides long-term subsidies  to local financial institutions for lending to micro and small  enterprises as well as medium-sized enterprises and low-income  private households. In total, since its inception, the EFSE has  directed over 922 million euros to finance commercial banks,  microfinance institutions, as well as non-financial institutions,  thereby making it possible to issue more than 247,000 loans to small  and medium-sized enterprises and private households.  

It should be noted that INECOBANK has been operating in the Armenian  market since October 1996. In December 2016, ProCredit Bank merged  with INECOBANK, and as part of this process, an institutional  investor in the person of EBRD was attracted to the capital, which,  four years later, in the first quarter of 2020, it left the capital.  With this in mind, the shareholding of the majority shareholders of  INECOBANK now looks as follows: Baloyan Avetis - 38.1%, Safaryan  Karen - 32.95%, and the share of investment funds agRIF Cooperatief  U.A. (Belgium) and DWM FUNDS S.C.A.-SICAV SIF (Luxembourg) remained  unchanged at 10.01% and 5.1%, respectively.