GCF GEFF Regional - GEFF Armenia II - Araratbank (EBRD-55641)

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
Oct 15, 2024
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
Araratbank OJSC
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • 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)
$ 3.75 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)
$ 3.75 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)
$ 5.00 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.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Dec 7, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Oct 18, 2024

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

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 Araratbank of up to USD 5 million, of which up to USD 3.75 million to be provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and up to USD 1.25 million by the Green Climate Fund under the GCF-Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) Regional Programme.

The proceeds of the loan will be used for financing investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies by local private sector commercial sub-borrowers in a gender-responsive way, in line with the standards and reporting requirements of the GEFF in Armenia. 100 per cent of the loan proceeds will be related to Green Economy Transition investments. AB will benefit from Technical Cooperation in form of trainings, capacity building and support for project implementation from the dedicated programme consultants.

The operation will benefit from TC support financed by the GCF and the Climate Investment Fund. The objective of the TC is to assist financial intermediaries in Armenia, including AB, with capacity building, marketing, project assessment and general monitoring and reporting. Furthermore, investment incentives to AB's clients, granted by the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme in the amount of up to USD 0.5 million will be deployed to stimulate climate change mitigation and adaptation projects with significant positive externality and to encourage early movers to adopt innovative technologies to reach a critical mass.

 

Zaruhi Melkonyaninfo@araratbank.am+37410592323https://www.araratbank.amBuzand St. 87, prem. 85, 0002 Yerevan, Armenia

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 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, Araratbank OJSC is a long standing EBRD partner bank. AB is a mid-sized bank in Armenia, ranking the 10th largest by total assets and the 9th by loan portfolio with 4.4% and 3.9% respective shares in the system as of YE 2023.


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 - Araratbank OJSC:

Zaruhi Melkonyan
Email: info@araratbank.am
Phone: +37410592323
Website: https://www.araratbank.am
Address: Buzand St. 87, prem. 85, 0002 Yerevan, Armenia

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