Asian Development Bank acquires equity interest in Ameriabank to  expand access to financial services in Armenia

ArmInfo.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Ameriabank CJSC signed an agreement on acquisition of a $ 30 million equity participation to strengthen the Armenian banking sector and expand access to financial services in the country. The  contract was signed by the director of the Armenian office of ADB  Shane Rosenthal and the chairman of the Board of Directors of  Ameriabank Andrey Mkrtchyan at the official ceremony in Yerevan.

This is the first transaction on equity investment of ADB in Armenia. The  ADB has also approved a loan of $ 30 million. The ADB is also  planning to provide technical assistance to Ameriabank for investing  in digital banking, IT systems and risk management through the grant  funds, Ameriabank's press service told ArmInfo on May 7.

"We are happy to invest in Ameriabank and, through cooperation with  the dynamic team of Ameriabank, we will help expand the lending to  small and medium-sized businesses, thus contributing to Armenia's  economic growth and development," Mr. Rosenthal said.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameriabank Andrey Mkrtchyan for  his part commented: "We highly appreciate the new level of  cooperation, which directly demonstrates ADB's deep trust in  Ameriabak, which will give new impetus to the Bank to achieve  strategic goals and implement long-term intentions, and will help to  expand access to world capital markets for the foreseeable future, I  am confident that our joint efforts will contribute to the  development of Armenia's banking sector and economic growth in our  country as a whole, and SME growth in particular".

According to the source, the key role of Ameriabank in the  development of the Armenian economy and the local banking system, the  high performance of the bank over the past ten years, in addition to  the Bank's increasingly active role in improving the welfare of the  society, have become key factors for the implementation of this  important undertaking. Ameriabank is the leader in the banking system  of the RA for all key financial indicators. The bank has the largest  loan portfolio in the country. SMEs make up the vast majority of  enterprises in the country, but their share in the country's GDP and  employment level is disproportionately low - 43% and 41.7%,  respectively. Strengthening the banking sector of Armenia will help  to increase SMEs' access to credit facilities and private financial  services in the country and at the same time will increase the  financing opportunities for Ameriabank for servicing SMEs. In  particular, the project will allow Ameriabank to financially support  small and medium-sized businesses, thus contributing to the creation  of new jobs, as well as to the growth and diversification of the  Armenian economy.

With the entry of a new shareholder in Ameriabank's capital, the  equity participation was distributed as follows: Ameria Group CY Ltd.  - 56.6%, EBRD - 17.8%, Asian Development Bank - 13.9% and ESPS  Holding Limited - 11.7%.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), headquartered in Manila, was  founded in 1966 with a view to reducing poverty in the Asia-Pacific  region, through inclusive economic and environmentally sustainable  growth, as well as regional integration. 67 countries are represented  in the ADB, incl. 48 countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

CJSC Ameriabank is a dynamically developing bank in Armenia, one of  the largest and most stable financial institutions of the country.  Being the 1st investment bank in Armenia, Ameriabank provides a wide  range of innovative services since 2007. Today Ameriabank is a  universal bank that provides a full package of corporate, investment  and retail banking services.