YEREVAN. – The commercial banks in Armenia are working with three or four evaluators which, as a rule, give a low estimate to the property that is put up for collateral, PM Tigran Sargsyan stated during Thursday’s Cabinet meeting. 

He informed that they received recommendations from the World Bank to make the financial means more accessible, and one of the respective points refers to property assessment.  

“Different evaluators assess the same property with substantial differences. Commercial banks should not work [solely] with one or two evaluators. If there are dozens of evaluators in the market but they are working with one or two, there is no competition; the objectivity of the assessment is lost,” Sargsyan stated.

Chairman Yervand Zakharyan of the State Committee of Real Estate Cadastre promised to study the matter and submit recommendations. 

Also, Armenia’s Premier commissioned Chairman Artak Shaboyan of the Armenian State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition to investigate whether there is competition in this market.