International Bank for Economic Co-operation for the first time implemented a deal with a bank from Armenia. Ardshinbank, which is a new partner, is one of the three leading national financial institutions. The first step in cooperation between the two banks was taken at the end of September 2019, when the General Financing Agreement was signed. This made it possible to promptly agree on the terms of the first transaction, and already in mid-October IBEC provided Ardshinbank with pre-export financing in the amount of 3.5 million euros for a period of up to six months to credit the export of fruits and vegetables to Russia.
In addition to being present in the strategic sectors of the Armenian economy and, above all, in the energy sector, Ardshinbank pays special attention to dealing with small and medium businesses. An extensive network with more than 60 branches contribute to this. Considering that Armenia focuses on foreign trade cooperation with Russia (countries are members of the Customs Union), IBEC and Ardshinbank have good prospects for supporting the foreign economic activity of Armenian companies, both in the Russian direction and, over the long term, in the IBEC member states markets that are new for Armenia.
Intensifying cooperation with financial institutions of the CIS countries allows IBEC to build institutional capacity to promote the development of foreign economic relations in the markets, which are traditional for its member states.