YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26. ARMINFO.MANAGERS OF ACRA CREDIT BUREAU, REPRESENTATIVES OF INSURANCE COMPANIES DISCUSS COOPERATION ISSUES At a round-table held in Yerevan, the managers of the first credit bureau in Armenia, "ACRA", discussed issues of cooperation with Armenia's insurance companies.

The ACRA expert Khachatur Avalyan reported that the main goal of establishing the credit bureau is collecting information on borrowers' credit operations in respect to his fulfilling various financial commitments. He pointed out that the bureau's information services will facilitate the assessment of potential clients' trustworthiness, which will allow insurance companies to avoid contracts with risky clients and effect insurance policies in conformity with the degree of the risk. Avalyan reported that insurance companies will be provided with information on the examination of legal entities' credit history, including the period of the last 30 days. He pointed out that a legal entities may have applied to different companies for credits or insurance policies during this period, which testifies to the risk. The information package includes the information on the current debts of legal entities, the loan, the date of its approval and repayment, pledged security and the term of its recovery, as well as on the credit repayment. Moreover, the package includes information on all the credits a legal entity received during its activities, as well as the information of judicial bodies, because a company may be in the process of bankruptcy, have debts to other persons and public utilities services.

According to Avalyan, the information will be reported by banks, microcrediting institutions, insurance companies, courts, as well as by public utilities services. He explained that insurance companies will report the information on the debts of their clients, terms of payment, on the codes of insurance policies, on the number of insurance defaults and delays in the payment of premiums.

The round-table participants showed interest in cooperating with the Bureau. During the discussion, insurance companies presented their own proposals for the collection of additional information from traffic police on the number of violations on the part of certain physical persons, which will allow insurance companies to make more exact calculations of the risks of automobile liability insurance. The meeting participants proposed including in the package the information on the members of Armenia's securities market. They also discussed the issue of reporting the information on credit reports of foreign individuals and legal entities. An ACRA staff member said that it is possible because ACRA plans to establish cooperation with foreign credit bureaus, but in this case the information will be reported at the price set by those organizations.

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25. ARMINFO. ACRA ADMINISTRATION MEETS WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF MICROCREDIT ORGANIZATIONThe administration of the Credit Bureau of ACRA during the roundtable discussed with the representatives of microcredit organizations the possibility of mutually profitable cooperation. The participants were also presented the scheme of work of the first private credit bureau which is being created in Armenia.

ACRA President Armen Vartanian told ARMINFO, the Bureau gives an opportunity to the creditors, insurance companies and other interested organizations rightly to assess their risks when giving credits or insurance policies.

According to him, the Credit Bureau aims to collect information about credit operations of the borrowers, about their unfair fulfillment of taxation and other obligations, payment for communal services, payment of aliments, etc. In act, the reliable credit history of a borrower will substitute for the presence of physical pledge when receiving a credit, Vartanian said. Today the company has already reached a preliminary agreement with the executive power of the country, financial institutes, international organizations, who have expressed readiness to render assistance.

The representatives of microcredit organizations positively regarded the creation of such an institute as the Credit Bureau. During the meeting the participants have mainly discussed technical problems.

The ACRA president informed that the process of concluding agreements with banks, credit organizations and insurance companies will begin in March.The ACRA will start PR-campaigns and to hold training programs on the topic of in-time fulfillment of financial obligations. The Credit Bureau will begin to function with full value since July of the current year. Tomorrow ACRA is to meet with the representatives of insurance companies. -S-

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24. ARMINFO. BUSINESSMAN FROM USA DECLARE ABOUT CREATION OF FIRST PRIVATE CREDIT BUREAU IN ARMENIA The first private credit bureau ACRA may launch in Armenia in the nearest future. The idea to establish the bureau belongs to the U.S. citizen Armen Vartanian, who recently begin its active promotion. The press release, spread by the company, says about the support of a number of international organization, working in Armenia, to this idea. According to ARMINFO, the idea was supported in the political and economic circles of Armenia and enlisted the support of the Armenian Development Agency financed by the World Bank. Today the initiators of establishment of the bureau met with the representatives of the commercial banks. Tomorrow they are to meet with the credit organizations of the country, representatives of insurance companies. LRC Engineering company provides the advisory support to the project.

Noteworthy, over a year ago the Central Bank of Armenia was the first initiator of creation of an institute in Armenia - credit register. Since the beginning of last year the banks and credit organizations of the country began to provide it information about unfair borrowers. Heads of commercial banks of Armenia at a talk to an ARMINFO correspondent supported the idea of establishment of an alternative private "dossier on a borrower". According to them, the Central bank of Armenia also welcomes this initiative. They think that the success in the project's implementation will depend only on the professional level of its implementation. -S-

YEREVAN, MARCH 4. ARMINFO. CBA WELCOMES ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIVATE CREDIT BUREAU IN ARMENIA Armenia's Central Bank welcomes the establishment of the first private credit bureau (ACRA) in the country, says CB president Tigran Sargsyan.

He is convinced that the bureau's information will be in high demand on the Armenian market. The local and credit organization will be interested to pay for the service as it will help them to better control credit risks.

The administration of the bureau is convinced that creditors and insurers will take part in the project. The first profit is expected in 1.5-2 years. LRG.-0-

YEREVAN, MAY 25. ARMINFO. ACRA PRIVATE CREDIT BUREAU REACHES AGREEMENTS WITH MAJORITY OF MICRO-CREDITING ORGANIZATIONS, INSURANCE COMPANIES AND COMMUNITIES
ACRA Private Credit Bureau has already reached agreements with majority of micro-crediting organizations, 90% of insurance companies and 80% of communities. ACRA President Armen Vartanian said in his interview to ARMINFO that agreements are also reached with "ArmRosgasprom" and one of the banks. Negotiations are held with the leadership of the Armenian Electric Networks, ArmenTel, Armwatercanal and another three leading banks.

He said that the cooperation with banks, micro-crediting organizations, insurance companies, communities and organizations providing public services, as well as with Economic Court and other structures ready to provide information of their receivables is expected to be expanded.

Speaking of the benefit of ACRA participants, the President of ACRA said that for the organizations providing public services, it means an increase in the level of honesty of consumers, for insurance companies it means full information on the frequency of false insurance cases of natural persons and legal entities, which will allow them avoid undesirable risks timely.

YEREVAN, MAY 13. ARMINFO. FIRST MORTGAGE COMPANY INTENDS TO ISSUE FIRST CREDITS A MONTH LATER
The universal credit organization "First Mortgage Company" intends to start issuing the first a month later. Deputy Chairman of the Board of First Mortgage Company Ltd David Atanesian told ARMINFO, the mortgage credits will be given for the term of from 4 to 7 years at the interest rate of 12-14% annual. According to him, the maximum size of the loan is envisioned $25,000, on the basis of prepayment of 30-50% out of the value of the dwelling irrespective of its quality, i.e. the higher the quality the lower the prepayment. At the primary stage the company intends to give credits for buying dwelling only in Yerevan, and in future its credit presence in the regions is not excepted.

Atanesian noted that many applications were received in a short period of time, but not many of them were satisfied. And the reason of such a position is not in the potentialities of the company, but in the seriousness of criteria on determination o the solvency of the client. In particular, the selection of borrowers is carried out on the basis of three main and compulsory criteria. The first one - solvency, i.e. presence of steady income, second - presence of credit history, which testifies about the reliability of the client, and the third one - presence of pledged security. The credit register of the Central Bank gives the credit histories to the company, and cooperation with the private credit bureau ACRA is planned in future.

"First Mortgage Company" intends to cooperate with two realty company, who will estimation the house and its liquidity. As regards the insurance of the pledge the company negotiates with the insurance companies "London-Yerevan" and Efes. Atanesian noted that the size of insurance premium will depend on the quality of the house and its being equipped with safeguards. Besides, the company is conducting negotiations for cooperation with the HSBC Bank Armenia, Armeconombank and Unibank. -S-

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22. ARMINFO. STATUS OF PRIVATE CREDIT BUREAU ACRA TO BE CHANGED IN NEAREST FUTURE
The status of the private credit bureau of Armenia - ACRA will be changed from corporation Ltd to closed joint-stock company. Executive Director of ACRA Artak Melkonyan informed journalists today, adding that the number of the founders of the private credit bureau will increase, among the founders - largest financial organizations, as well as local and foreign companies who will introduce a program package.

He informed that the advisors of the ACRA have elaborated a package of documents which meet the principles of the corporative governance and is widely used in the international practice. An Advisory Council will be created according to this management system, representatives of the Central Bank of Armenia, Government of Armenia and international donor-organizations will form the staff of the Council. Stressing the importance of the role of all the participants of the market in management of the credit bureau ACRA, informed that a Committee for ensuring impartial activities is to be created. Representatives of micro-credits organizations and insurance companies will form the staff of the Committee. -S-

SEPTEMBER 22. ARMINFO. PRESENTATION OF BUSINESS PLAN OF "ACRA" CREDIT OFFICE HELD AT CB YEREVAN,
A presentation of the first private credit office "ACRA", which was founded by the USA-based Credentials Inc. company early this year, has been held at the RA Central Bank today. Financial market members, representatives of international organizations and other persons concerned got acquainted with the office's business plan, which was elaborated by the consulting-advisory company Grant Thornton.

During the presentation, the results of some studies were presented, which showed that, if necessary information is available, bank investments in the GDP can increase from 31.1% to 66.42%, and the provisional figure of the domestic credit risk (within 0-50) can decrease from 15.2 to 7.14. A study conducted by the Italy-based "CRIF" credit office, consumer credits increased from 6.9bln. EUR to 23.3bln EUR from 1995 to 2002, which caused an increase on consumption and a 2% increase in GDP.

President of the "ACRA" credit office Armen Vartanian reported that the database will receive information from banks and credit institutions, insurance companies, micro-credit institutions, consumer service organizations, courts and taxation service, trade organizations, etc.. The information from the database will only be provided to banks, credit and micro-credit institutions, as well as to insurance companies.

Negotiations for software installation are currently under way with a number of international organizations. It will ensure the collection of information on payments effected by physical persons and legal entities from various structures. This information will help to determine confidence in the client in crediting or insuring him, which will facilitate the work of banks, micro-credit institutions and insurance companies.

Executive Director of ACRA Artak Melkonyan added that the credit bureau has reached agreements with all micro-crediting institutions, as well as with over 80% of insurance companies, eight prefectures of Yerevan, one bank and a number of other structures. The first credit stories are to be put in the database of the "ACRA" credit office before the end of 2004. -T-

YEREVAN, October 22.ARKA. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INSTITUTE OF CREDIT BUREAUS IN ARMENIA TO INCREASE GDP BY 2%
The establishment of the institute of credit bureaus will allow increasing country’s GDP by 2%, as stated Artak Melkonyan, the Executive Director of ACRA Armenian credit bureau at the press conference in Yerevan.

According to him, the GDP growth will be ensured due to a more precise estimate assessment of credit risks and it will result in growth of consumer expenses.

According to the estimates of Grant Thornton Amyot Consulting Company, the establishment of a credit bureau in Armenia will become a significant factor for economic growth in the country, "as the creation of similar structures is the evidence of seriousness of Armenia’s financial system, which needs additional tools and services on the market at current stage". As the Director of ACRA, Armen Vartanian had previously stated, agreements with one commercial bank of Armenia – Conversebank, all credit organizations, more than 80% of insurance companies, 8 prefectures had already been concluded. A number of other agreements will be signed after all organizational issues are solved. Currently, bureau does not conclude agreements because of development process of technical packages of the databases; however it already has agreements regarding the provision of data with more than 40 organizations of the country.

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. L.V.--0-

YEREVAN, October 21. ARKA. THE REPRESENTATIVES OF WESTERN CREDIT BUREAU POSITIVELY EVALUATE THE FINANCIAL SITUATION IN ARMENIA
The representatives of western credit bureau positively evaluate the financial situation in Armenia. As the representative of Austrian credit bureau KSV (Kreditschzverband) Gerhard Wagner stated at a press conference in Yerevan, the crediting area develops in Armenia like in European countries. He noted that the goal of his visit to Armenia is to study the preconditions for credit bureau development in Armenia, to develop mechanisms to make up an individual credit rating and study the technologies of information program corresponding to Armenia reality. Speaking of the work of ACRA Armenian private bureau, he expressed his readiness to contribute to its development. To note, the foreign experts arrived in Armenia by the invitation of ACRA, which has been cooperating with these structures for some years already. Corresponding agreement on it was signed during the international conference in Beijing in September 2004. ACRA first credit bureau in Armenia was founded in January 2004 and is 100% private organizations.

YEREVAN, October 21. ARKA. SCHUFA HOLDING GERMAN CREDIT BUREAU DEVELOPS CREDIT RISKS EVALUATION PACKAGE FOR ARMENIASCHUFA Holding German credit bureau develops credit risks evaluation package for Armenia, as the representative of SCHUFA Holding Frederick Boeckh stated at the press conference in Yerevan. According to him, the package provides for a single coefficient of credit risk, which will most efficiently work in business environment in Armenia. He noted that the system provides for two main components – exchange of data between different financial structures and cooperation between them. He emphasized that the evaluation of credit granting capacity has no direct impact on the decisions of banks when granting credits, but mostly on the terms of granting a credit, i.e. the term and amount. "The most important in the work of bureau is chose the necessary package of documents corresponding to the present financial situation in Armenia for developing credit histories”, he said.

In the course of a three-day visit to Armenia, the representatives of Austrian and German bureau held meetings with the administration of WB Office in Armenia, CBA Board, representatives of commercial banks, credit organizations and other financial institutions. A.H. --0--

YEREVAN, October 20. ARKA. AUSTRIAN AND GERMAN SPECIALISTS ARE TO OFFER A PRODUCTIVE SYSTEM OF COOPERATION TO ACRA CREDIT BUREAU
Austrian and German specialists are going to offer a productive system of cooperation to ACRA credit bureau and Armenian banks. According to ACRA’s Press Service Department, for this purpose, the representatives of Austrian KSV and German SCHUFA credit bureau will arrive in Armenia for a three-day working visit, in the frames of which the evaluation of the credit bureau development preconditions will be done and the issue of introducing the system jointly with the WB, CBA, and leading banks of Armenia responsible for the financial structures in Armenia will be discussed.

According to the press release, such a system has been successfully applied for scores of years in the developed countries of Europe as well as in East-European developing countries and it allows most precise evaluation of credit risks. “Application of such a system in Armenia will allow Armenian borrowers to use their financial conscientiousness as a guarantee for receiving a privileged credit”, according to the press release.

To note, the foreign experts arrived in Armenia by the invitation of ACRA, which has been cooperating with these structures for some months already. The corresponding agreement was signed during the international conference in Beijing in September 2004. ACRA first credit bureau in Armenia was founded in Jan 2004 and is 100% private organization.

YEREVAN, October 7. ARKA. PRESIDENTS OF CREDIT BUREAUS OF LARGE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL STRUCTURES TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA IN MID-OCTOBER 2004
Presidents of credit bureaus of large international financial structures will arrive in Armenia in mid-October, 2004. According to the Press Service of ACRA, during the meeting definite issues of cooperation between private and public credit registers will be discussed. The corresponding agreement regarding the forthcoming visit was reached during the visit of ACRA Credit Bureau delegation headed by Armen Vartanian to Beijing in September of 2004.

On September 26-30 in Beijing, ACRA delegation took part in two international conferences. The first one was organized by the Association of Consumer Credit Information Suppliers (Europe) (ACCIS), Consumer Data Industry Association (U.S.) (CDIA) and Chinese Huaxia International Business Credit Consulting Co. The objective of the conference was to unite the representatives of world credit bureaus for the discussion of their problems in various regions and exchange of experience. Another objective was to emphasize the role of credit bureaus in international economic processes.

Representatives of credit bureaus of all developed countries as well as of some developing countries and countries with transition economy- Romania, Croatia, Hungary, Estonia, Armenia Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, participated in the conference. The Head of the Armenian delegation, Armen Vartanian highly appreciated the results of the conference and mentioned that it proved to be rather useful especially for newly established structures, which start their work built upon world experience. The achieved agreement on forthcoming membership in ACCIS was particularly important for ACRA newly founded credit bureau. The second conference also took place in Beijing and was organized by the World Bank. Issues of cooperation between private and public credit registers were discussed during that conference. First Armenian credit bureau ACRA was established in January, 2004 and is a 100% private organization. L.V. --0—

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13. ARMINFO. ARMENIAN CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY (ACRA) PRIVATE CREDIT BUREAU CAN CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ARMENIA
Armenian Credit Reporting Agency (ACRA) Private Credit Bureau can contribute to development of small and medium-scale entrepreneurship in Armenia's regions, Adviser of Armenian President for Local Self-Governance Seyran Avagyan told journalists today. He pointed out that ACRA is a new institution, which can become a key for close cooperation of commercial banks and SMEs in the country. The basic problem of the sphere's crediting is pledged security as its liquidity level is especially low in regions, he said.

In this connection, ACRA is organized a meeting of SME representatives and informed them of the schedule of the bureau's work and the possibilities of mutually advantageous cooperation. Thus, ACRA Representative pointed out that the functions of the private credit bureau are collection of information from various sources on debtors, in particular, in fulfillment of obligations to creditors by legal entities and natural persons. This information will be provided to ACRA members if requested. According to world statistical data, 93% of banks apply to ACRA for information on debtors, representatives of the sphere of small and medium-scale entrepreneurship.

The survey carried out by WB last year in the sphere of SME revealed a number of obstacles for issue of credits to debtors. In particular, it is a high interest rate, existence of the necessary pledged security and proper history of a debtor. The influence of credit bureau from the point of view of economic entities is that creation of their credit history at ACRA will allow them to receive credits on more favorable conditions both from local creditors and foreign investors. Besides. it will allow them to carry out transactions on the consumers market abroad, as well as to enjoy services of foreign financial organizations.

ACRA at the first stage of its activity will provide credit reports and international credit reports, and will start giving rating to credit risks in future. The idea of establishing the private credit bureau was approved by the Armenian CB, state government bodies, Entrepreneurship Assistance Council, WB, International Financial Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, IMF, EBRD, USAID and representatives of the financial and banking sphere. By the way, ACRA has already concluded a number of contracts with them.

It should be noted that ACRA was founded in January, 2004. The main initiator of establishment of the private credit bureau in Armenia was the American Credential Inc. The Bosnian LRC Engineering rendered consultative assistance to the project. Potential foreign partners of ACRA are Dan&Bradstreet (USA),Schufa (Germany). -M-

December 5 : ACRA Press Service.Seminars in the regions of Armenia
Specialists of ACRA Credit Bureau were invited to participate in the seminars organized for students of the Ijevan department of Yerevan State University and for the SME representatives of Tavush region.

The second seminar was organized for the students and SME representatives of Artik.

The seminars were dedicated to educating about the benefits of making purchases for credit, of building and maintaining good credit histories.

During the seminars specialists of ACRA explained the essence and functions of private credit bureaus. Students have to understand all the benefits of establishing good credit histories from the beginning of their professional life, that is the reason of considering meeting with students very important task for ACRA.

ACRA got prior agreements with the deans of economical departments of Yerevan State University and State Economical Institute for organizing training and seminars for the students of above mentioned institution.