Crédit Agricole is a French-based international banking group with more than 52 million customers and 140,000 employees worldwide.[1] For background about the company, see in this report, Part 1: Western Sahara, section 1.2., Crédit Agricole S.A. Group.
In Armenia, Crédit Agricole is the largest shareholder of the Armenian ACBA Crédit Agricole Bank,with 28 percent. It also has another subsidiary in Armenia, Crédit Agricole Leasing & Factoring.[2] ACBA Crédit Agricole Bank was created in the 1990s as aEuropean Uniondevelopment assistance project. In the last twenty years, the bank has received hundreds of millions of dollars in international financing through World Bank institutions,[3] as well as loan agreements with other European and international financial and development bodies, such as EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development),[4] the Netherlands’ government-controlled FMO (Entrepreneurial Development Bank),[5] and the EFSE (European Fund for Southeast Europe).[6]
Through its Armenian companies, Crédit Agricole actively aids Armenian settler initiatives. ACBA Crédit Agricole sponsors the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund telethons in support of “both Armenias” and collecting funds for infrastructure development and settlements in Nagorno- Karabakh. The fundraisers helped to collect tens of millions of dollars.[7] Crédit Agricole has been involved in numerous other projects to help Karabakh settlers.[8] Moreover, in the last escalation of fighting with Azerbaijan in April 2016, ACBA Crédit Agricole announced that it would annul loan obligations of the families of Armenian soldiers killed in fighting for the occupied territory.[9]
[1] Crédit Agricole, “Discover the Crédit Agricole Group,” https://www.credit-agricole.com/le-groupe/decouvrir-le-groupe-credit-agricole.
[2]Crédit Agricole Leasing & Factoring, “The Group Sites,” http://www.ca-leasingfactoring.com/en/the-group-sites.html; ACBA Leasing, Homepage, http://www.acbaleasing.am/.
[3] International Finance Corporation, “IFC Loan Helps Armenia’s ACBA-Credit Agricole Boost Lending to Small Businesses, Farmers,” January 20, 2012, http://ifcext.ifc.org/IFCExt/pressroom/IFCPressRoom.nsf/0/420AF7BE0C4EF7AB8525798B0038CE70;
International Finance Corporation World Bank, “Small Beginnings for Great Opportunities: Lessons Learned from 20 Years of Microfinance Projects in IFC,” 2014, 2015, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/406041468126882907/pdf/950370WP00PUBL0book0SB0Microfinance.pdf.
[4] European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, “EBRD Local Currency Loan to Armenia’s ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank,” December 15, 2016, http://www.ebrd.com/news/2016/ebrd-local-currency-loan-to-armenias-acbacredit-agricole-bank.html; Armbanks, “EFSE to Provide $10 Million Loan to ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank,” December 14, 2016, http://www.armbanks.am/en/2016/12/14/104210/.
[5] FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank, “ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank CJSC,” https://www.fmo.nl/project-detail/49500; BanksAm, “IFC to Allocate USD 140m to Develop Clean Energy in Armenia,” February 7, 2017, http://www.banks.am/en/news/newsfeed/13300/.
[6] European Fund for Southeast Europe, “EFSE Lends ACBA Leasing EUR 1.9 Mln to Boost Funding for Armenian Micro, Small Enterprises,” November 22, 2016, http://www.efse.lu/uploads/tx_news/2016-11_EFSE_lends_ACBA_Leasing_to_boost_funding_for_Armenian_micro__small_enterprises.pdf.
[7] Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, “ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank Undertakes Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s Telethon 2008,” August 14, 2008, http://himnadram.org/index.php?id=22543; Armenia Fund USA, “Some $30 Million Pledged during the Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s Fundraising Dinner in Yerevan,” November 4, 2008, http://www.armeniafundusa.org/news/20081104-30-million-pledged.htm; Asbarez, “Armenia Fund 2010 Telethon to Rebuild Karabakh’s Water Infrastructure,” October 13, 2010,
http://asbarez.com/86645/water-is-life-armenia-fund-to-bring-water-to-karabakh-with-telethon-2010/.
[8] NewsAM, “ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank and Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Launch Affinity Card,” November 22, 2012, https://news.am/eng/news/129591.html.
[9] Armenpress, “ACBA Bank Annuls Loan Obligations of NKR Victims,” April 8, 2016, https://armenpress.am/eng/news/842823/acba-bank-annuls-loan-obligations-of-nkr-victims.html.
