FIF - YiB Loan - ArmSwissBank (EFSD+1) (EBRD-57241)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Armenia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
May 12, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
ArmSwissBank CJSC
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 10.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS May 31, 2026

Disclosed by Bank May 18, 2026

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the EBRD, the project consists of the provision of a senior loan to ArmSwissBank CJSC in amount of up to USD 10m under the Youth in Business in Caucasus Programme to support youth-led or youth-owned micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Armenia.

The project aims to promote inclusive and competitive economic growth by improving access to finance for youth-owned and youth-led MSMEs in Armenia. Aligned with the objectives of the Youth in Business Caucasus Programme, the transaction will enable ArmSwissBank to launch and scale a dedicated youth-focused lending product, supported by targeted non-financial services, thereby expanding its product offering and adapting its lending practices, underwriting processes and delivery mechanisms to better meet the needs of young entrepreneurs.

The project includes tailored technical cooperation support funded by the EU under the Programme. The objective of the technical cooperation is to support ArmSwissBank in the design, implementation and rollout of a dedicated youth-focused lending product, including the adaptation of credit-risk assessment, underwriting processes, delivery mechanisms, monitoring and reporting systems as well as integration of non-financial services (NFS) into the product structure to better serve youth-owned and youth-led MSMEs. The TC will be funded by the EU via the EFSD+ Programme (USD 260,000).

In addition, the loan is complemented by results based compensation mechanism of up to 3% of the Loan amount in favor of ArmSwissBank, funded by the EU via the EU NIP Programme designed to offset the incremental costs associated with developing and rolling out youth-focused financial products, outreach activities and internal capacity building. The transaction is further supported by a first-loss risk cover of up to USD 0.5 million (EUR 0,431 million), intended to partially compensate ArmSwissBank for potential losses on eligible sub-loans and enhance the bank's risk appetite for financing youth-led and youth-owned MSMEs. Finally the Loan will benefit from 12.5% FLRC of ArmSwissBank's risk in EBRD favor under the SME LCY Programme, funded by the SME Local Currency Special Fund.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The EBRD categorized the project E&S risk as 'FI'.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by the EBRD, ArmSwissBank CJSC is a long-standing EBRD partner bank. It is the 10th largest bank in Armenia by total assets and the 11th by gross loan portfolio with 3.7% and 2.9% respective market shares as of YE2025.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Financial Intermediary - ArmSwissBank CJSC:

Ara Makaryan
Email: info@armswissbank.am 
Phone: +37460757000
Website: www.armswissbank.am 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html

How it works

How it works