GCF GEFF Regional - GEFF Armenia II - Converse Bank (EBRD-55804)

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
Nov 5, 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
Converse Bank CJSC
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Climate and Environment
  • Energy
  • Finance
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)
$ 2.25 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)
$ 2.25 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)
$ 3.00 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 Dec 27, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Dec 10, 2024

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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.

According to the EBRD, the project consists of the provision of a senior loan to Converse Bank CJSC ("CB") of up to USD 3 million, of which up to USD 2.25 million to be provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ("EBRD") and up to USD 0.75 million by the Green Climate Fund ("GCF") 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 for the GEFF in Armenia. 100% of the loan proceeds will be related to Green Economy Transition investments. In addition to long-term financing, eligible subborrowers will benefit from investment incentives upon successful completion of their investment projects. CB will benefit from Technical Cooperation ("TC") in form of trainings, capacity building and support for project implementation from the dedicated programme consultants. The Project's use of proceeds may include solar sub-projects. Such sub-projects will be managed in line with "The Proposed Management Approach for Solar Supply Chain Risk Management" (CS/FO/21-35), (CS/FO/21-35 (Add 2)) and any subsequent guidance developed under that approach.

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 CB, with capacity building, marketing, project assessment and general monitoring and reporting. Furthermore, investment incentives to CB's clients, granted by the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme in the amount of up to USD 300,000 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.

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, Converse Bank is a commercial bank focused on servicing business and retail segments in Armenia. Among the 18 banks, CB ranked 6th by total assets and 7th by loan portfolio, with market shares of 5.5% and 5.4% respectively, as of YE2023.


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 - Converse Bank CJSC:

Lusine Balanyan
Email: lusine.balanyan@conversebank.am
Phone: +374 10 511 211 ext. 2335
Website: https://www.conversebank.am
Address: 26/1 V. Sargsyan str., 0010, 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