Project Description
A senior unsecured loan of up to USD 10m under the SME Competitiveness Programme in Eastern Partnership (“EaP SMEC”) established by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”) in cooperation with the European Union (“EU”) to be on-lent to eligible micro, small and medium sized enterprises (“MSMEs”) to support their investments in sustainable technologies as well as health and safety measures. At least 70 per cent of all financed sub-loans are expected to be compliant with EBRD Green Economy Transition (“GET”) approach. In addition to long-term financing, eligible sub-borrowers will benefit from investment incentives upon successful completion of their investment projects.
Project Objectives
The project will enable ASHB to finance long-term investments of Armenian MSMEs in upgrading their production processes/equipment to achieve compliance with the EU standards, including investments in sustainable and green technologies and thus enhance the competitiveness of Armenian MSMEs in the European and domestic markets.
Transition Impact
ETI score: 75
Competitive: ASHB will expand its MSME loan portfolio with a specific focus on financing priority investments complying with EU directive(s), ultimately facilitating competitiveness of Armenian MSMEs.
Resilient: ASHB is expected to maintain strong loan portfolio quality.
Client Information
ARDSHINBANK CJSC
Ardshinbank CJSC (ASHB) is a long-standing partner bank of EBRD. It is the largest bank in Armenia by total assets and the second largest by gross loan portfolio with 17.7% and 12.3% respective shares in the system as of end Q2 2023.
ASHB is rated BB- stable by Fitch (Aug 2023), Ba3 stable by Moody’s (Jun 2023) and B+ positive by S&P (Oct 2022).
EBRD Finance Summary
USD 10,000,000.00
Total Project Cost
USD 10,000,000.00
Additionality
Financing structure: EBRD offers a tenor, which is above the market average and is necessary to structure the project.
Innovative financing structures and/or instruments: EBRD offers an innovative green finance instrument that integrates aspects such as climate and environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) standards and/or climate and ESG risk considerations into the financing structure. For instance, adjusting level of concessionality to reflect level of climate risk and/or positive climate benefits, such as greenhouse gas reductions and climate resilience benefits.
Knowledge, innovation and capacity building: EBRD provides expertise, innovation, knowledge and/or capabilities that are material to the timely realisation of the project’s objectives, including support to strengthen the capacity of the MSMEs.
Environmental and Social Summary
Categorised Financial Institution (“FI”) (Environmental and Social Policy 2019): ASHB will be required to implement and comply with the relevant EBRD’s Environmental & Social Procedures. ASHB will need to ensure ongoing compliance with Performance Requirements 2, 4 and 9 and submit annual environmental and social reports to the EBRD via FI Sustainability Index, including reporting on sub-projects and their climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation benefits. Beneficiaries financed through the EBRD loan will be required to comply with national requirements for environment, health and safety and labour standards and the environmental and social eligibility criteria for climate mitigation and climate change adaptation projects as per the Policy Statement.
Technical Cooperation and Grant Financing
The project includes a comprehensive technical cooperation programme funded by the EU. The objective of the technical cooperation is to assist financial intermediaries in Armenia, including ASHB, in successful implementation of the project, including marketing, pre and post finance assessment of sub-projects as well as general monitoring and reporting. Furthermore, the loan is complemented by EU funded grant of EUR 1.14m to be allocated to ASHB’s clients in form of investment incentives to stimulate investments in technologies meeting EU standards including investments in sustainable and green technologies.
Company Contact Information
David Sargsyan
office@ardshinbank.am
+37412222222
https://www.ardshinbank.am/
13 Grigor Lusavorich, 0015 Yerevan, Republic of Armenia
PSD last updated
11 Sep 2023
Understanding Transition
Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.
Business opportunities
For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.
For business opportunities with EBRD (not related to procurement) contact:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com
For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com
General enquiries
Specific enquiries can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.
Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)
The ESP and the associated Performance Requirements (PRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the PRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation as well as to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about environmental and social performance of the client and the project. Proportionate to the nature and scale of a project’s environmental and social risks and impacts, the EBRD additionally requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts arising from projects or to undertake meaningful consultation with stakeholders and consider and respond to their feedback.
More information on the EBRD’s practices in this regard is set out in the ESP.
Integrity and Compliance
The EBRD’s Office of the Chief Compliance Officer (OCCO) promotes good governance and ensures that the highest standards of integrity are applied to all activities of the Bank in accordance with international best practice. Integrity due diligence is conducted on all Bank clients to ensure that projects do not present unacceptable integrity or reputational risks to the Bank. The Bank believes that identifying and resolving issues at the project assessment approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts, and also helps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.
OCCO is also responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, both within or outside the Bank, who suspects fraud or corruption should submit a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer by email to compliance@ebrd.com. All matters reported will be handled by OCCO for follow-up. All reports, including anonymous ones, will be reviewed. Reports can be made in any language of the Bank or of the Bank’s countries of operation. The information provided must be made in good faith.
Access to Information Policy (AIP)
The AIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations following its entry into force on 1 January 2020. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.
Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.
Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)
If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (e.g. through the Client’s Project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).
IPAM independently reviews Project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the Mechanism is: to support dialogue between Project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or Project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.
Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate; how to submit a Request for review; or contact IPAM via email ipam@ebrd.com to get guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.
