The Black Sea Trade & Development Bank (BSTDB) is implementing ten projects worth a total of U.S. $70 million in Armenia, BSTDB President Andrey Kondakov told journalists on Oct. 26. Armenia’s share in the bank’s capital is 1%, its share in the active loan portfolio being 5%. “Each U.S. dollar in the bank’s capital returns U.S. 14 to Armenia. Quite a good figure for Armenia, but we plan to increase this figure,” Kondakov said.

The BSTDB management’s position is: small shareholders must receive more funds than major ones. According to Kondakov, this is what development banks are intended for.

He pointed out that two years ago, when the global crisis reached its highest point, the BSTDB member-states decided to increase the bank’s capital. “Under the decision, the bank’s subscribed capital is to be doubled, and authorized capital even tripled,’ Kondakov said. This year the member-states have begun paying their shares. The process will last for eight years, and Armenia was the first to contribute to the bank’s capital.

According to him, the financial crisis did not affect the bank. “The reason is the bank’s conservative policy, and, to an extent, the luck,” Kondakov said. He stressed the bank is operating in the black, and plans a 70% increase in its loan portfolio within the next four years.

The BSTDB was founded 11 years ago by 11 stockholder-countries, Armenia being one of them. The bank has funded more 220 projects worth a total of U.S. $3 billion. The BSTDB assets currently total U.S. $1.5 billion, and the bank has 106 loan portfolios.