Ameriabank CJSC - NASIRA PORTFOLIO (FMO-62486)

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
  • Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO)
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
A
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
Sep 15, 2023
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
Ameriabank 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)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 46.40 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 @ FMO website

Updated in EWS Oct 15, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Jul 7, 2023

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 FMO, the NASIRA Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) represents the next milestone to the well established partnership with Ameriabank. Through its controlled risk environment, the NASIRA RSF will bolster Ameriabank' s endeavors to expand its MSME portfolio. The facility places particular emphasis on empowering Young and Women entrepreneurs by supporting their income generating business activities, thereby aligning with FMO's goal in Reducing Inequalities. The NASIRA transaction will support Ameriabank in achieving its strategic goal of growing its MSME customer base.

FMO will be sharing directly the risk of the loan portfolio of MSMEs with Ameriabank, while 50% of the limit will be geared towards Young and Women entrepreneurs, hence qualifying for a 50% RI Label.
As a result, the NASIRA RSF facility will incentivize Ameriabank to finance the underserved and marginalized communities in Armenia, thus supporting the country's economic development. Lastly, the transaction is additional as there are hardly any alternate products available in the market which offer similar portfolio protection as NASIRA does.

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.

As stated by the FMO, "Ameriabank is categorized as FI-A (high risk) in accordance with FMO's Sustainability Policy."

People Affected By This Project
People Affected By This Project refers to the communities of people likely to be affected positively or negatively by a project.

Ameriabank' s portfolio has a considerable exposure to large corporate clients as well as to sectors with potential significant and adverse environmental and social risks such as such as agriculture, mining and quarrying, power, and oil and gas. Key potential impacts and risks related to the portfolio include soil, air, and water pollution, physical and economic displacement, poor labor and working conditions, and resource efficiency aspects.

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 FMO, Ameriabank is a privately-owned bank in the Republic of Armenia. The bank distinguishes itself by providing an extensive range of financial and advisory services through its omni-channel distribution, with a focus on the Corporate and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises segments. With a workforce of 1414 staff, (with 69% being female) the bank serves customers through its head office, 25 branches, 120 ATMs and >2,500 POS terminals. Ameriabank is an existing and longstanding client of FMO since 2009 and retains a leading position in the banking sector of the country, with a ~17.6% market share when measured by loan portfolio.


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 - Ameriabank CJSC:

Address: 2 Vazgen Sargsyan Street, Yerevan 0010, Armenia
Email: info@ameriabank.am
Phone: +374 10 56 11 11
Website: https://ameriabank.am/en/

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

As part of FMO's ex-ante disclosure (disclosure of transactions before contracting), you can send requests or questions for additional information to: disclosure@fmo.nl

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF FMO

Communities who believe they will be negatively affected by a project funded by the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) may be able to file a complaint with the Independent Complaints Mechanism, which is the joint independent accountability mechanism of the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) and the German Investment Corporation (KfW). A complaint can be filed in writing, by email, post, or online. The complaint can be filed in English or any other language of the complainant. The Independent Complaints Mechanism is comprised of a three-member Independent Expert Panel and it can provide either problem-solving, compliance review or both, in either order. Additional information about this accountability mechanism, including a guide and template for filing a complaint, can be found at: https://www.fmo.nl/independent-complaints-mechanism

How it works

How it works