Armenian economy to consume 60.5 billion drams from Russian loan

YEREVAN, September 18, /ARKA/. A deputy minister of finance, Vardan Aramian, said today the Armenian economy is expected to consume about 60.5 billion Drams of the Russian stabilization loan. On June 12 Russia transferred a $500 million loan in one tranche to the Central Bank of Armenia.

The Russian loan was provided at Libor +3% interest rate to help the government stabilize the economy.

The deputy minister said if all 60.5 billion Drams of the Russian loan are consumed before the end of the year that would signify a positive trend. He said 15 billion Drams of that money have been allocated already as credits by banks. He said some 300-500 million Drams were made available as mortgage credits and $44 million were extended to mining companies in Armenian south.

Last June during a special government meeting held in Kapan, the capital of the southeastern Syunik region, the government approved $44 million in loans to three mining companies. The loans are repayable in four to five years. One of the loans worth $14 million went to a copper and molybdenum plant in Agarak, a small town on the Armenian-Iranian border.

The two other firms, Zangezur Mining and Armenia Molybdenum Production, got $15 million each. They both hold 12.5 percent stakes in the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), the country’s largest metallurgical enterprise based in Kajaran, about 40 kilometers north of Agarak. The rest of the ZCMC stock is controlled by the German metals group Cronimet.

‘The government has exhausted its set of instruments, the money is channeled to the banks and it is very important that they ensure aggressive injection of these funds into the real sector economy,’ he said.($1 – 381.52 Drams). M.M. -0-