From March 22 to 24, the financial exhibition “Finar Expo” was held in Yerevan. The exhibition was attended by commercial banks of Armenia, insurance companies, the Central Bank of Armenia.
The event was supported by the Government of the RA, the Ministry of Finance of the RA and the Central Bank of Armenia. Unfortunately, there were few participants in the exposition – only 14 companies. The passivity of financial organizations is probably explained by the fact that this is the first financial exhibition in Armenia. As Oleg Agasyan, a member of the Council of Central Bank of Armenia, noted, the need for such a specialized exhibition, where participants in the financial market could submit services, financial instruments that they offer customers, as well as familiarize themselves with new offers of their colleagues, rushed for a long time.
“Of course, if there were more participants, the exhibition would be more interesting. Personally, I expected more from the organizers. In my opinion, the company “Expo Media” was supposed to give participants for at least six months to prepare. It is one thing to prepare booklets, another is interactive pavilions, the use of various technical capabilities. I think that many organizations, that’s why they did not participate in the exhibition. But I am sure that the next exhibition will be more successful, ”said Oleg Agasyan.
Nevertheless, the exhibition participants were not lost and were ready to actively represent visitors the entire range of products and services offered with an emphasis on new products. In particular, Armbusinessbank represented unique not only for the Armenian, but also for the regional market, the product – a cobranding card together with Czech Airlines. The possibilities of the exclusive service of the E-Commerce were told by visitors to the employees of the ArEximbank-Gazprombank group-group.
Entrepreneurs showed interest in the exhibition. Thus, the chairman of the Union of Small Hydroelectric Power Station Armenia Naira Naapetyan, in an interview with reporters, said that she is interested in the terms of credit products that banks offer for hydropower. “Our main problem is the loan terms. You understand that we need long loan terms-10-12 years. Some banks participate in the program of financing the German Bank of KFW, which involves long -term funding and dramatic resources, which is very important for us. And some of the banks offers the usual financing of business projects, the conditions of which do not always meet our needs. For example, I have now talked with HSBC Bank Armenia employees, they offer a loan for a maximum of 5 years, which is not happy with us, especially when it comes to the construction of hydroelectric power plants from scratch. At the same time, the bank offers very attractive financing conditions both in terms of interest rates and grade periods. The exhibition is a good opportunity to compare various offers and choose banks with which we could cooperate, ”she emphasized.
