Wednesday, 29 October 2008
RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received director of the EBRD Caucasus, Moldova and Belarus country offices Michael Davy and head of the EBRD Armenia office Michael Weinstein.
Both the Bank's commitment to Armenia and the cooperation over the joint programs were highly appreciated on either side. The bilateral interaction was said to have been developing successfully over the past few years. Michael Davy advised that at this point of time, the Bank is working on the next 3 years' cooperation strategy which is due to come before the Board of Directors as early as next January.
As an example of the ever-expanding cooperation, the head of the Armenian government cited and welcomed the acquisition of a stake in Ararat Bank by the EBRD and assured that the government was going to back the European Bank's activities in our country.
Concerning the above, Michael Davy said this deal was the reflection of EBRD's full trust in Armenia's banking system. He advised that the European Bank has already invested into 4 Armenian banks and is cooperating with 8 such local entities altogether.
The parties also touched upon the efforts aimed at eventually anticipating the adverse effect of the global financial crisis on Armenia. As assured by Mr. Davy, the EBRD directors are very much concerned about the implications on EBRD partner countries. In this regard, the Prime Minister stressed the need for a tangible rise in small and medium-size business funding. Tigran Sargsyan indicated that the Armenian market has been analyzed by experts and we have sufficiently accurate estimates as to how much funding it can absorb within at least the next three years.
The EBRD representative expressed readiness to work in those areas of interest to Armenia's government and welcomed the proposal of focusing upon the SME. He further mentioned that the cooperation in this sphere and with the banking sector is prioritized in the new strategy as well.
According to Mr. Davy, an EBRD mission is due to arrive in Armenia to discuss the new strategy. He expressed hope that the bilateral cooperation and the joint programs will succeed as a result of such discussions and collaboration.
