Friday, February 15 2019 16:16

ArmInfo. VTB Bank (Armenia) for 2018 granted amnesty to fines and penalties to individual customers for a total amount of up to 3 billion drams. As the press  service of VTB Bank (Armenia) told ArmInfo, as a result, in 2018,  fines and penalties for more than 4,600 loans of 4,000 customers were  written off.

According to the source, the debt forgiveness process involved the  conclusion of settlement agreements with customers who have overdue  loans at the bank for the remaining amount of debt and the provision  of a new repayment schedule for up to 5 years. This applies to the  following types of loans: cash loans without collateral; cash loans  secured by real estate; Pos loans; credit lines; loans secured by  gold products; credit cards.

The bank explained that the mandatory condition for forgiveness of  penalties and fines was: the presence of more than 271 overdue days;  recognition of loans hopeless on the date of May 31, 2018; the first  payment under the new schedule at the time of the conclusion of the  settlement agreement.

To note, in July 2, 2018 Prime Minister held a meeting with bankers  in the government of the Republic of Armenia in order to practically  address the issue of concessions to fines and penalties on overdue  loans. On the same day, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank and Ameriabank  announced the cancellation of fines and penalties on hopeless loans  to individuals, and then IDBank (July 4), VTB Bank (Armenia) (July 4)  and Ardshinbank (July 6) and Converse Bank (July 11) announced  joining the process.

According to the Financial Rating of Banks of Armenia, as of October  1, 2018, prepared by ArmInfo IC, VTB Bank (Armenia) occupies the  first position in terms of consumer credits - 114.4 billion drams or  51.2% of the total loan portfolio of the bank. On a yearly basis, the  bank increased its consumer loan portfolio by 63.7%. The share of bad  loans in the total loan portfolio of VTB Bank (Armenia) almost  reaches 20% with an annual absolute value decline of 6.1%. In the  structure of overdue loans, this category of risky loans dominates -  37.5%, against higher rates a year ago (74.5%). Of the total bad  loans of the bank, the dominant mass is stuck in consumer loans  (incl. Mortgage).

To recall, VTB Bank (Armenia) CJSC became a member of the VTB  international financial group in April 2004. Currently, the second  largest in Russia, "Bank VTB" PJSC owns 100% of VTB Bank (Armenia)  shares. The bank traditionally ranks among the leaders of the banking  system of the Republic of Armenia by major indicators. In terms of  the coverage of its branch network, VTB Bank (Armenia) holds the lead  - 67 branches with a presence both in the capital and in all regions  of the country.