YEREVAN, October 27. /ARKA/. Yerevan-based Mellat Bank, fully owned by Iran’s Mellat Bank, has opened its new head office in the city.
Deputy General Manager of Mellat Bank Armenia Seyed Gholamreza Mousavi, speaking at the opening ceremony, said that the office is located in downtown Yerevan and expressed hope that its modern design and comfort would cater for clients’ needs and would provide favorable conditions to the bank’s officers.
He also expressed hope that the bank will open new offices in Armenia and will continue be useful to the country’s citizens, all companies and the entire region.
Mousavi said that the bank is not only interested in increasing its income, as any commercial bank, but it has also another mission – to help Armenian families and entrepreneurs, to enhance their welfare and to develop Armenia’s economy and to strengthen the country.
He said that Mellat Bank is servicing numerous clients coming from Iran and other countries, and this shows that tourist and economic activity in Armenia is growing.
These processes, he said, increase the number of the bank’s clients and spur the country’s economy.
Chairman of Mellat Bank CJSC’s Board Mohammad Bigdeli, on his side, said that after economic sanction against Iran were lifted the bank decided to open branches in many countries to provide higher quality services to clients and tourists as well as provide its employees with comfort.
Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Seyyed Kazem Sajjad said that the Iranian side has met with Armenian Central Bank Chairman Arthur Javadyan as well as with representatives of the country’s finance ministry and state revenue committee, and it has been decided to develop cooperation in banking and insurance sectors.
He said that the number of the bank’s branches in Armenia is expected to be increased and that the bank will do whatever is necessary to improve services.
“It is necessary to increase salaries to employees to prove that Iranians love Armenians and want to strengthen cooperation,” the diplomat joked.
Deputy Chairman of Armenian Central Bank Vakhtang Abrahamyan, who spoke at the ceremony as well, said Mellat Bank occupies its decent niche in Armenia’s banking sector providing high-quality services that are in tune with Armenian-Iranian cooperation.
“We are happy to place on record that Mellat Bank meets all the requirements of the central bank, and this is a basis for its long-term activity,” he said.
Iran’s Mellat Bank opened its Mellat Bank subsidiary in Armenia in 1996 in accordance with the agreement signed with the Central Bank of Armenia. Initially the bank operated as Iranian Mellat Bank’s branch, but in September 1997 it was reorganized into a subsidiary with CJSC status.
Its authorized capital, amounting to AMD 32,100 billion, has been ensured by the only shareholder – Iranian Mellat Bank. –0—-
