History
On July 27, 1998, the Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Armenia executed an Agreement on Financial Co-operation. On this basis, KfW and the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) entered into a long-term loan agreement for a loan in the amount of DM 6 million on September 25, 1998. Under the Agreement an apex fund was created: German-Armenian Fund (GAF). Eight months after the inter-governmental agreement was signed, in March 1999, the project began its operations.
The main objective of the activity of PMU GAF is the implementation and management of the following loan programs of the "German-Armenian Fund" in accordance with the Loan agreements and the Separate agreements forming an integral part of them concluded between the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia and the KfW Development Bank (KfW Bank) belonging to the KfW-Bankengruppe the promotional bank of the Federal Republic of Germany within the framework of the intergovernmental agreements between the governments of the Republic of Armenia and the Federal Republic of Germany:
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"Support to small and medium enterprises" (GAF-MSME) program
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"Development of the renewable energies" (GAF-RE) program
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"Development of sustainable housing finance market" (GAF-HF) program
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"Credit guarantee fund" (GAF-CGF) program (closed in 2010)
GAF-MSME program has been implemented since 1999, GAF-RE and GAF-HF were launched in 2006, and GAF-CGF was launched by the GAF in 2007 and closed in 2010.
During the last few months of 2008 the RA Government and the World Bank joined the PMU GAF as new donor organizations. With their financing, new loan programs were launched:
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"Support to small and medium enterprises" (GAF-MSME-Government) program (financed by the RA Government)
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"Access to finance for small and medium enterprises" (GAF-WB/AFSME) program (financed by the World Bank)
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"Economy stabilization lending" (GAF-RF) program (financed by the RA Government)
The "Support to small and medium enterprises" program financed by the RA Government was launched in December 2008, GAF-WB/AFSME financed by the World Bank and GAF-RF financed by the RA Government have been implemented since 2009.
In 2012 GAF is planning to initiate new "Agricultural Finance" Program under the funding of KfW and RA Government.