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ProCredit Bank in Armenia Focuses on Credits

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  • ProCredit Bank in Armenia Focuses on Credits

    The FINANCIAL, Georgia
    Feb 18 2008


    ProCredit Bank in Armenia Focuses on Credits


    18/02/2008 15:14

    The FINANCIAL -- `In Armenia, just like in any other country we
    operate in, ProCredit Bank plans to be a development oriented full
    service institution,' Ashot Abrahamyan, Deputy Executive Director of
    ProCredit Bank in Armenia told The FINANCIAL. `Competition forces
    banks to think of how to better present and position themselves in
    the market.'

    On February 5, 2008, ProCredit Bank Armenia opened for business, the
    22nd institution in the worldwide ProCredit group.

    `Everybody is welcome at ProCredit Bank Armenia: students,
    pensioners, small entrepreneurs, corporate clients, ordinary people.
    All of them represent ProCredit's target group. The transparent and
    easy to understand conditions make ProCredit's products attractive to
    clients.'

    According to Abrahamyan the bank is oriented on the retail market as
    well as on corporate clients.

    `ProCredit Bank Armenia is seeking to work with both segments. The
    bank can work with 10 corporate clients and give each of them USD 100
    000 loans and you can work with 1 000 individual clients and lend
    them USD 1 000 loans. Both aspects could be profitable, you need to
    reach the necessary volumes,' Abrahamyan declared.

    According to ProCredit Bank Armenia, credit is a very important part
    of the bank's business.

    `The bank is putting the main emphasis on lending to very small,
    small and medium sized enterprises. Supposedly the most popular loans
    will be loans to individual entrepreneurs willing to develop their
    businesses,' Abrahamyan said.

    `ProCredit Bank wants to do a lot of lending to its target group in
    order to develop their businesses, the economy and the financial
    system, because it is clear that there is still a lot to be done in
    this country. ProCredit Bank tends to bring ordinary people to the
    bank and give them the opportunity to have and save money for a
    difficult day, instead of keeping money under the mattress,'
    Abrahamyan added.

    The are 21 other banks operating in Armenia.

    `And it is good because although the competition is growing it
    remains fair. Many banks are also expanding in the regions and are
    opening new branches. In the number of banks there are several
    international banks as well. So there is HSBC bank Armenia, which has
    been present in the Armenian market for 12 years already, there is
    also ACBA Credit Agricole Bank, which is doing a lot of agro-lending.
    So the competition is present and is quite strong,' Abrahamyan says.

    `Competition forces the banks to think about how to present and
    position themselves in the market. ProCredit Bank hopes that the
    competition will strengthen in the future and will challenge to work
    harder and offer newer products to the clients.'

    Mortgage loans are becoming very popular in Armenia

    `However ProCredit Bank is not currently making that a priority.
    Perhaps in the future the bank will start thinking about entering the
    mortgage market as well, but not now. Today Procredit bank offers
    Express Business loans to customers within 24 hours,' Abrahamyan
    said.

    The Central Bank of Armenia granted ProCredit Bank the license to
    conduct banking operations in Armenia on December 7, 2007. The
    shareholders of ProCredit Bank are ProCredit Holding AG with 66, 66%
    of shares, KfW with 16, 67% of shares, and EBRD with 16, 67% of
    shares. By the end of 2008 ProCredit Bank Armenia will be present in
    three regions of Armenia with six branches: four in Yerevan, one in
    Vanadzor, and one in Artashat.

    ProCredit Bank in Armenia is part of the ProCredit Group. The group
    consists of 22 financial institutions in Eastern Europe, Africa, and
    Latin America which are led and supervised by ProCredit Holding,
    based in Frankfurt, Germany. It is not associated with any commercial
    or political group. ProCredit Banks all over the world have a similar
    management system, operate according to the same values and offer
    their customers similar banking services.

    Outstanding Loan Portfolio figures around the ProCredit group
    worldwide by the end of 2007 consisted of: 2,969 (EUR million),
    Number of Outstanding Loans: 1,037 (`000), Deposits Volume: 2,439
    (EUR million), Number of Customer Accounts: 2,822 (`000), Number of
    employees: 16,803, Number of branches worldwide: 621.
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