The FINANCIAL — The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided a loan to the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, to provide assistance to eligible small, medium-sized and middle market capitalisation (MidCap) companies.
The funding is provided under the EU4Business initiative which aims to support Armenian businesses, according to EU Neighbours East Info.
EIB Vice-President Jan Vapaavuori said: “EIB funds intermediated through the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia, a well-established partner of the EIB, will improve the access of Armenian SMEs and Mid-Caps to long-term finance in local currency on favourable terms. This will contribute to the diversification of the Armenian economy and private-sector development and will have a positive influence on job creation in the country”.
Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Arthur Javadyan, commented: ’’I am confident that this loan will mimic the success story of its predecessor by its effectiveness and accuracy in targeting the access to finance for SMEs in Armenia.’’
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 50 million to support Armenian small and medium-sized businesses. The previous EUR 50 million loan for SMEs, signed in 2014, has already been fully disbursed for eligible projects of Armenian SMEs and Midcaps. To date, more than 100 projects throughout the country have benefitted from them, in particular in the tourism and agri-food sectors. Under this existing loan, the participating financial intermediaries as well as small and medium businesses had an opportunity to benefit from related technical assistance activities funded by the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF).
Discussion about this post