BSTDB expands its trade finance program in Armenia

News | 11-Jan-2007

BSTDB EXPANDS ITS TRADE FINANCE PROGRAM IN ARMENIA

BSTDB will make available a USD 3 million revolving trade finance facility to Inecobank (Armenia) to advance sub-loans to Armenian import/export companies.

The operation supports the Bank’s strategy to finance business involved in regional trade. BSTDB’s facility will be used for financing exports from Armenia or imports of goods from the Black Sea region.

Inecobank is the second BSTDB financial intermediary in Armenia, following a similar financial facility of US$3 million provided earlier to ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank. With the signing of this operation, the total amount of BSTDB’s approved operations in Armenia amount to USD 35 million.

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Inecobank was established in 1996 as a private bank and maintains strong ranking in the Armenian banking market. 10% of its capital belongs to IFC, with another 13,5% owned by ShoreCap, an international investment company founded by Asian Development Bank, IFC, FMO (Netherlands), FinnFund (Finland) and reputable international commercial banks. Inecobank has developed good experience in SME lending area under credit lines provided by the World Bank, Eurasia foundation, USAID financed programs, KfW (Germany) and EBRD credit lines.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Türkiye, and Ukraine. The BSTDB headquarters is in Thessaloniki, Greece. With an authorized capital of SDR 1 billion (approx. USD 1,45 billion), the Bank supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing financing, guarantees, and equity for projects in the public and private sectors in its member countries. BSTDB is rated Long Term Baa1 and Short Term P2 by Moody’s.