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2005 2004

January	February	March	April	May	June

July	August	September	October	November	December

22.01.05: ACRA press service. From January 22 to 26, 2005, a delegation from Dun & Bradstreet Credit Bureau arrived in Armenia on the invitation of ACRA management.

Mr. Rajesh Mirchandani, the Chief Executive Officer of Dun and Bradstreet SAME Ltd., met with the representatives of the Central Bank of Armenia, World Bank Armenia resident office, as well as other members of the banking sector and other international organization. Mr. Mirchandani stated that the development of the contemporary Armenian financial market is capable and ready for private credit bureau operations. Moreover, the credit bureau will have an enormous impact on the development of consumer lending, as well as mortgage and credit card markets. Mr. Mirchandani also finds that the possible cooperation of ACRA and D&B will serve as an additional tool for the increase of the country rating of Armenia.

Dun & Bradstreet is one of the largest companies in the credit information and credit rating business. This transnational corporation has offices in more than 100 countries of the world. The D&B database contains information about 48 million different companies, 10 million of which are US-based companies.

18.01.05: ACRA press service.On January 18, 2005, a delegation from Schufa, the largest Credit Bureau of Germany, arrived in Armenia. The visit lasted three days during which developments of negotiations between the two credit bureaus were held.

The delegation got acquainted with the recent developments of ACRA Credit Bureau operations; they also discussed issues conserning ACRA software development and implementation. As a result of the negotiations Schufa management made a formal proposal with the details and terms of ACRA and Schufa collaboration.

Currently the shareholders and the executive management of ACRA are discussing the above proposal.

01.01.05: ACRA press service. Season’s Greetings and our best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year!!!

Let 2005 be a year filled with success, happiness, peace and prosperity. We with you will build and maintain good credit history and your personal credit history will serve as an additional asset for your prosperity.

Sincerely, ACRA Credit Bureau Team

23/05/05 ARKA: DUN&BRADSTREET COMPANY TO FOUND WORLD-LEVEL BUREAU IN ARMENIA
The International company Dun&Bradstreet intends to found a world-level bureau in Armenia on the basis of the ACRA credit bureau, Dun&Bradstreet Executive Director for South Asia and Near East Rajesh Mirchandani said. According to him, the company has been impressed by the commitment displayed by ACRA. This is one of the most important reasons why ACRA has been selected, Mirchandani said. He pointed out that Dun&Bradstreet plans to establish long-term cooperation with ACRA. He did not rule out the possibility of the company's larger share in ACRA's capital. MirchanDuni said that outburst can be observed on Armenia 's credit market. Among reasons for this he included economic growth and increase in consumer expenses in the country. On the other hand he pointed out that crediting is probably concentrated in Armenia's banking system. This is another reason why the company considers Armenia as being in need for credit bureau, he said.
An agreement has been signed between the only credit bureau in Armenia ACRA and the Dun&Bradstreet company on the latter's 5% share in ACRA's capital. In his turn, Director General of Conversebank Smbat Nasibyan said that ACRA will help banks receive this information on borrower in on-line regime, whereas banks formerly settled this issue independently opr by means of the CB credit register, which performs an administrative function. According to ACRA, a total of 160,000 credits were allocated by 22 banks and nine credit institutions of Armenia in 2004.
The Dun&Bradstreet Company is the leader in providing business information and risk estimation. It was founded in New York, USA, in 1841. The modern-day Dun&Bradstreet corporation was formed after separating from the world-famous rating company Moody’s. Dun&Bradstreet’s annual revenue totals 1.4bln AMD. The company’s database contains information on 92mln companies of the world. The first credit bureau ACRA was founded in Armenia in January 2004, and is 100% privately-owned organization. TheUS Credential Inc.company has so far been the only share-holder of ACRA. A bureau is a database containing information on borrowers’ credit operations in executing various liabilities. The ACRA Advisory Board members are the German KfW, USAID and EBRD P.T.

23/05/05 ARKA: DEVELOPMENT OF CREDIT MARKET IN ARMENIA – CBA CHAIRMAN
The presence of a credit bureau creates a favorable atmosphere for the development of credit market in Armenia , stated Tigran Sargsyan, CBA Chairman. According to him, both the clients of banks and the banks themselves can correctly weigh credit risks through credit bureaus. “The score system of the credit bureau also helps to form correct credit expectations by the potential borrowers, and the availability of a credit history can already become a ground for providing a credit ”, said the head of CBA. Answering the question of ARKA News Agency, Sargsyan said that Armenia so far does not possess the legislation regulating relations between the credit bureau and its clients which is in line with world standards.
According to Rajesh Mirchandani, the Executive Director of Dun&Bradstreet in South Asia and Middle East, its company can assist Armenia to develop the required legislation.
First Armenian credit bureau ACRA was established in January, 2004 and is a 100% private organization. The only shareholder of the company is American Credential Inc. The bureau is involved in creation of a database which accumulates information about credit operations of the borrower regarding the fulfillment of various debt liabilities. ACRA and Dun&Bradstreet, the leader in providing business information and risk assessment, have signed and agreement on 5% participation of Dun&Bradstreet in ACRA’s capital. L.V.

21/05/05 ARMINFO: President of ACRA private credit bureau Armen Vardanyan and DUN & BRADSTREET Managing Director for Central Asia and Middle East Rajesh Mirchandani have signed an agreement on D&B 5% participation in ACRA capital.
Vardanyan says that ACRA has also agreed with Converse Bank on the bank's 1% participation in its capital. There are many similar proposals by Armenia 's commercial banks and if each has a 1% share in ACRA's capital the bureau will be able to more effectively work on the market. ACRA's capital will be increased from $400,000 to $600,000 by the end of this year, says Vardanyan.
Mirchandani says that the company's survey in Armenia have shown that the country's economy and banking urgently need a credit bureau. D&B-ACRA cooperation envisages technology introduction, advising and support. Later on when ACRA joins the global data network the sides will be able to exchange information. Central Bank President Tigran Sargsyan says that this cooperation will facilitate ACRA's development while the well-known international brand will allow it to attract foreign investments and raise confidence in Armenia. He says that credit bureaus allow to correctly appraise credit risks and ensure the dynamic development of the credit market.
Vardanyan says that ACRA has contracts with ADB and Converse Bank as well as with almost all insurance companies, micro-credit and credit organizations of Armeia. The bureau is also negotiating with ArmSavingsbank, Ardshininvest, INECO. It has already started collecting and providing information on the credit backgrounds of borrowers.
ACRA was established in Jan 2004 by Credential Inc. (US). SCHUFA credit bureau (Germany) has a 2% share in its capital. D&B earns some $1.4 bln a year. Its global data base contains information on 92 mln companies. D&B is represented in over 200 countries to be able to adjust itself to local crediting peculiarities.

06/05/05, Delovoy Express N17 (625): The famous saying “trust, but verify” is especially relevant for today’s business world. Business partners always tend to trust, but at the same time thoroughly check each other before engaging into any kind of partnership. And this is in no way insulting to either of the parties. Moreover, in the modern business infrastructure organizations like credit bureaus have been established to carry out the purpose of legally and professionally performing the collections and processing of information about credit histories of physical and legal entities.

In Armenia ACRA Credit Bureau announced about its establishment and the start of its operations a little more than a year ago. Even when ACRA was not fully operational yet, it drew the attention of the CIS representative of Dun and Bradstreet, one of the leading international companies in the world “credit information” market.

Needless to say how surprised ACRA management was when it found out that Dun & Bradstreet already had “clients” in Armenia . One of them is BILINE, a local company that sells high quality computer hardware of well-known international brands.

An ARMINFO correspondent asked Mr. Hayk Khanjyan about how BILINE got into the D&B rating list; a fact that turned out to be the company’s “Security Guarantee”.

We have been in the market since 1996. Among our partners I can mention such world-known companies, as IBM, CANON, APC, SIEMENS, etc.
The secret of a company’s success lies in its operations that need to unconditionally correspond to its partners’ demands. First of all, let me mention that BILINE’s overall operations are not only about selling computer products, but also about their maintenance after the sales. And it goes without saying that we could not afford a partnership contract with any of the above organizations if we were not sure that we could provide high quality customer service.
Without such an approach to service provision our company could not have won multiple tenders in importing computer hardware, as well as in design and implementation of highly important local networks for many state agencies, international organizations, large-scale enterprises and commercial banks.
The financial possibilities of our company have never been so powerful, besides the guarantee of winning a tender from huge international companies is being able to show and guarantee our company’s stability, security and creditworthiness.
In this regard consumer credit lines from such companies as HP, IBM, APC, etc, were a great help for your company. We were able to win the trust of the above companies based on the rating that we got in 1998. The Moscow representative office of Dun & Bradstreet CIS contacted us requesting us to submit, on voluntary basis, all the necessary paperwork – financial paperwork, balance sheets and certain data regarding our company.
We did not know back then why they needed all the above, but at the same time we were well aware of the fact that being in the list of a world-known information providing company will strongly work for our benefit, in other words it will increase our chances of getting credit. We decided to cooperate and throughout several years we were sending them all our financial statements. As a result, we are now on the same list with many European companies and have also got our passport with a certain serial number.

Who was paying for the services provided by the international “credit bureau”?

We are not aware of that, but we assume that our partners are the ones that actually paid for those services. In any case, one thing is clear; shortly after the data collection IBM agreed to extend us our first credit line ever. As a result, we got the chance to import large consignments of goods, which is one of the basic requirements of tenders for companies. I think that if the company does not have anything to hide and it regularly pays the taxes; there is nothing perilous in providing information to the credit bureau. We exercised that practice and received our rating and a unique number in the catalogue of European organizations. By the way, up until 2000 we were the only Armenian company in the catalogue.
Today I know that our company information is also viewed by our partner organizations and we, in fact, feel the actual results of our company’s cooperation with an information bureau. E.g. we were the only company that after signing a contract with ArmenTel was allowed a delayed repayment by APC. That was the first time APC ever did that and all thanks to the fact that APC had access to our credit history and had reviewed our company information contained in our company’s credit history.

What do you think about the establishment of ACRA, the first private credit bureau in Armenia?

I think that is an extremely important event from the point of view of the development of the financial sector in our country. Many companies that want to collaborate with foreign organizations need to acquire a company rating, just like we did. After all, only having a positive credit history guarantees the development of cooperation with foreign companies. In this respect, it is vital that in Armenia ACRA is cooperating with Dun & Bradstreet, one of the leading and most progressive international companies specializing in credit bureau operations, business information exchange, credit risk evaluation and management.

Are you ready to pay, if necessary, the Credit Bureau for the information received?

Absolutely! Especially if ACRA is able to provide, thanks to its international connections, information about foreign providers. There are lots of not popular international companies that offer their services, but for many objective reasons, we sometimes doubt their trustworthiness. To be absolutely sure in your choice of a business partner, you need to have professional and reliable information. And we are ready to pay for that.

22/06/05, ARMINFO:
Armenian Development Bank and Converse Bank have recently become members of ACRA Credit Bureau. As Mr. Artak Melkonyan, the CEO of ACRA, has informed the ARMINFO correspondent the process of signing a contract regarding Converse Bank becoming a shareholder of ACRA is almost complete. In Mr. Melkonyan’s words ACRA has already signed membership contracts with the majority of Microfinance Institutions, and the data loading has started. ACRA also collects data on receivables and financial obligations from various commercial entities. In this regard, it is relevant to mention that contracts have been signed with a number of real estate companies, Internet providers, pharmaceutical companies, etc. Agreements of cooperation have also been signed with ArmRosGuzProm, eight out of twelve Yerevan's Municipalities. Negotiations are in progress with Water, Telephone and Electricity Companies. In addition, ACRA has signed contracts with 11 Insurance Companies, however the data loading from them will start in a month when the software will be adequately upgraded. As the CEO of ACRA stated the Bureau had started rather successful negotiations with a number of newly established financial sector representatives, such as newly founded banks, credit and factoring organizations. Currently the information received from member organizations is being loaded into ACRA's database where it is thoroughly cleansed and classified into various groups according to its nature and type.
It needs to be mentioned here that the information in ACRA database is divided into two main groups: information from the financial sector and information from the non-financial sector. The information from the Insurance Companies will be loaded into an entirely new block. Worth mentioning is the fact that financial sector representatives will be entitled to both types of the information in ACRA database, whereas the non-financial sector representatives will not be able to receive the information obtained from the financial sector. The credit report issued by ACRA Credit Bureau will contain only some identification data and information about the performance of financial obligations of physical and legal entities. Data about the individual’s income, gender, religion and marital status will not be collected. It is relevant to mention here that only companies performing crediting of physical and legal entities can become members of ACRA Credit Bureau. Nevertheless, even the bureau members need to have the credit subject’s(individual's or company's) prior written consent to have access to his/her information.

16/09/05, ARMINFO: THREE ARMENIAN UNIVERSAL CREDIT ORGANIZATIONS BECOME MEMBERS OF ACRA PRIVATE CREDIT BUREAU
Three Armenian universal credit organizations, First Mortgage Company (UCO FMC), SEF International and Cascade Credit have become members of ACRA private credit bureau. In this connection, ACRA Executive Director Artak Melkonyan, Director General of UCO FMC David Atanesyan, Special Representative of SEF International Vadim Usvitsky and Director of Cascade Credit Garegin Gevorgyan gave a joint press conference, Thursday.
A. Melkonyan stated that Converse Bank, ADB and Cascade Bank and all the micro- financing organizations are also members of ACRA. All the remaining banks, except one, which he did not name, are considering the opportunity of ACRA membership. In this regard, ACRA has already reached preliminary agreements with the Union of Banks of Armenia. G. Gevorgyan, in his turn, stressed that negotiations are in process with Cascade Holding which is very interested in a acquisition of a share in ACRA. On the whole, 60 organizations are ACRA members, with 20 of them have provided information already. 20-30,000 data from 5-6 organizations have already been registered in the data base system. According to Melkonyan's forecasts, by the end of the month, the collected and registered data of ACRA will reach 50,000.
He said that ACRA has already had data almost on all the micro-financing organizations, three commercial banks. In this direction it deals with credit organizations and the non-financial sector (companies providing public services, Internet-providers, distributors and others are in the question). ACRA has contracts with ArmRosgazprom, Armwatercanal, the largest Internet-providers. It negotiates with ArmenTel and the Armenian Electric Networks. ACRA members have already been provided an access to the data base. Data on a natural person costs at least 480 AMD, and the most detailed information on a legal entity may reach 2,500 AMD. To compare, the prices in the USA are fluctuating between $1-$250.

08/11/05, ARMINFO:
“ACRA private credit bureau has granted on-line access to its Credit History Database to 7 financial institutions (2 banks, 1 credit organization and 4 Micro Financial Institutions) and 27 non financial organizations (consulting companies, Internet providers, real estate and employment agencies, import and export companies, publishing houses, etc.)”, says Mr. Artak Melkonyan, the Chief Executive Director of ACRA.
ACRA system already contains data from RA commercial banks, credit organizations and Micro Financial Institutions, as well as the Economic Court regarding liquidation, bankruptcy cases and other economic disputes. In the future, ACRA also plans to cooperate with insurance companies.
Till the end of the year 2005 all the organizations that have or will become members of ACRA will get the privilege of receiving 100% discount on all the services provided by ACRA. This decision was of ACRA is based on the Bureau’s striving for better meeting the needs and demands of its member organizations and delivering high quality services, as well as letting its member organizations use the system and give their feedback. It should be mentioned in this respect that ACRA Credit Reporting LLC, as opposed to many recently established credit bureaus, has developed its software independently, which means that it fully reserves any and all proprietary and copy rights over the product. The software was designed under the close supervision of Dun & Bradstreet, according to the evaluation of which it fully corresponds to the international standards of flexibility, adaptability and reliability.
Now ACRA Database contains data on 63,000 Subjects of which 58,000 (from 12 financial and 72 non financial organizations) have successfully passed data cleansing and validation, after which they have been loaded into the Database and are now ready for use. Mr. Melkonyan also pointed out that “Washington Capital” Universal Credit Organization and many non-financial organizations had recently joint ACRA System. “There is considerable progress in the collaboration with RA commercial banks, and the Bureau is actively negotiating with the Central Bank of Armenia” also stressed Mr. Melkonyan.
It is relevant to mention in this regard, that Converse Bank, Armenian Development Bank OJSC, Cascade Bank, all the Micro Financial Institutions, many credit organizations and insurance companies are already amongst the members of ACRA System.
ACRA Credit Reporting was established in 2003-2004 by Credential Inc Corporation (USA) based of the experience of similar organizations in the USA, Germany, Singapore, Mexico, India, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Bosnia. Throughout its operations ACRA has cooperated with such leading information bureaus as Fair Isaac, SCHUFA, Coface, Creditinfo and last, but not least Dun and Bradstreet, which is an influential international corporation that lately became the shareholder of ACRA.

12/12/05, Finansakan Tert:
The first meeting of the Advisory Council of ACRA Credit Bureau has lately taken place with the purpose of outlining the latest developments of the Company. ACRA Credit Reporting LLC is the first and only private credit bureau in Armenia, which was established in January 2004. ACRA has successfully passed the period of its establishment and is currently negotiating with numerous financial and non-financial institutions. As a result of the cooperation ACRA is now collecting data regarding the performance of financial obligations by physical and legal entities. Then the data are transferred to ACRA member organizations, including banks, microfinance institutions, credit and insurance organizations, in the form of credit reports. The information provided by ACRA is of utmost importance for the financial institutions, since thanks to the data received from ACRA they can considerably simplify the overall decision making process in crediting, as well as appropriately assess the risks.
ACRA Credit Bureau grants financial sector players the possibility to get acquainted with the financial obligation performance pattern of the potential borrower by supplying its members with detailed information regarding the financial conscientiousness of credit subjects. This significantly reduces the interest rates for credits/loans, and the creditors are able to use their credit history as a valuable asset on the way to getting credit. Besides, the financial institution is well protected from a debt which in its turn lessens the possibility of loss.
ACRA collaborates with Dun & Bradstreet and SCHUFA, two of the top international information bureaus. Moreover, throughout its operations the Company plans to implement Corporate Governance structure with internationally accepted standards. One of the most essential elements of Corporate Governance is the Advisory Council of the Company. It should be mentioned in this regard, that some noteworthy international organizations operating in Armenia, such as the Armenian representative offices of USAID (United States Agency for International Development), German KfW Banking Group, EBRD (European Banks for Reconstruction and Development) and the World Bank, have given their consent to participate in the Advisory Council of ACRA.
After the first meeting of the Advisory Council, that took place on December 01, 2005, the Company CEO and the meeting participants shared their views with the representatives of Mass Media.
The existence of a credit bureau in the country guarantees the fact that each entity now receives the opportunity to create his/her credit history, as well as to use it to his/her benefit while getting credit. In cases when the borrowers will be able to prove their creditworthiness with the help of the credit report, they can freely demand beneficial credit terms from the crediting organization.
The participants of the meeting, including Karen Grigorian, the World Bank economist, Karapet Gevorgyan, the RA representative of the KfW Banking Group, and Haykanush Bagratunyan, the financial specialist from the USAID, stressed the significant role of international organizations in the development of the Bureau. According to preliminary statistical data, the volume of crediting will noticeably rise in Armenia exceeding the mark of 100 million USD.
Mr. Artak Melkonyan, the Chief Executive Officer of ACRA, mentioned: “In order to collaborate with ACRA Credit Bureau the organization needs to sign a membership contract with the Bureau which will be followed by the transfer of their credit portfolio information to the Credit Bureau. An essential precondition is that the data needs to be transferred in one predetermined format which should not be altered later on. Then the data undergo thorough verification and processing, after which they are loaded into ACRA System. Only then the source of the corresponding data may be considered to be a full member of ACRA which enables the organization to access the System to make credit report requests. Currently we are working on the expansion of the System, as well as introduction of new value-added services. We are also conducting negotiations with banks and other financial institutions with the purpose of involving them into the System”.

02/12/05, ARMINFO:
International donor organizations intend to actively promote the mandatory use of the credit report as a reliable tool of credit risk assessment in their future credit programs.
On December 1, 2005, the first meeting of the Advisory Council of ACRA Credit Bureau took place at the premises of ACRA. The Armenian representative offices of EBRD (European Banks for Reconstruction and Development), KfW Banking Union, The World Bank and USAID (United States Agency for International Development), that are the members of ACRA Advisory Council, met to discuss the role of international organizations in the development of the credit bureau in Armenia, their contribution to the implementation of educational and promotional campaigns.
Speaking at the meeting, Karapet Gevorgyan, the Country Representative of the KfW Banking Group, has stressed that the above-mentioned criterion is currently under active consideration by the experts of KfW. Karen Grigorian, the World Bank economist, in his turn, added that the use of the credit bureau data should become a compulsory criterion for credit extension under the WB agricultural development program implemented in Armenia. A bona fide citizen with a correspondingly positive credit history will have a chance to receive credit on beneficial terms. Haykanush Bagratunyan, the financial expert from USAID, has stressed that ACRA is one of the most important structures of the RA financial market. The present data are evidence of the fact that the financing volume in the country is rather low. This, to some extent, is accounted for by the fact that banks have a really hard time fully assessing the risks of financing. As Karen Grigoryan mentions, private sector financing becomes more accessible in the countries that have credit bureaus. Moreover, the share of credits per capita in GDP sharply grows in such countries, which can be expected in the case of Armenia as well. Karapet Gevorgyan, in his turn, stressed that the share of credits per capita in GDP for the current year reached only 10%, which is a rather low indicator as compared with the same indicator of the countries with similar economic development. However, the existence of a credit bureau in the country will significantly increase the above indicator.
Artak Melkonyan, the Chief Executive Office of ACRA, declared that the study of the European experience had shown the importance of credit bureaus for increasing crediting, especially in the field of consumer crediting, which, in its turn, secures additional 2 percent GDP growth. He said that since June 2005, data collection from the bureau members had been underway. Besides, ACRA has recently granted on-line access to its member organizations which would enable them make on line Credit Report inquiries. The system contains data on 60,000 Credit Subjects, of which 20% are on legal and 80% on physical entities.