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EBRD extends credit line to Armenian bank
Anelik Bank will use $2.5 million funding to support smaller firms
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is extending a $2.5
million credit line to Armenia’s Anelik Bank to support its on-lending to
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Sub-loans to Armenian companies
will be for up to $250,000 and for tenors up to five years. The credit line
fills a gap in the fledgling Armenian banking system, which does not yet
deliver SME finance on a large and sustainable scale.
Anelik is a medium sized bank which specialises in SME lending. It is growing
dynamically and is now expanding its business to offer credit cards, consumer
and mortgage loans. The latest credit line will be used where possible for
expansion in the regions, thereby offering finance in remote rural regions.
This credit line, the EBRD’s third SME line to Anelik, falls under the Bank’s
Armenian Multi-Bank Finance Facility. Anelik’s two previous credit lines were
for $1 million in December 2002 and $2.5 million in December 2004. Both were
fully disbursed within five months. Due to the high demand for loans under the
successful first credit line, Anelik also invested $600,000 of its own funds
which it disbursed according to the conditions of the EBRD credit line.
This project will allow SME companies to receive swift access to reliable
finance based on the merits of their entrepreneurial skills and the success of
their business, said Michael Weinstein, head of the EBRD’s Resident Office in
Armenia, at the signing. “We are happy to continue our strong relationship
with the EBRD with this credit line, and, in general, with any potential
projects in the future,” said Samvel Chzmachian, Chairman of the Board of
Anelik Bank. “Lending to SMEs is at the heart of the activity of our bank.”
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