Banks Deny Loans to Iran-born Citizens of Armenia, Entrepreneur Tells Pashinyan

During the investment conference "My Step for Kotayk Province," one of the participating entrepreneurs raised an issue that hinders their work in the banking sector with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The Iran-born entrepreneur inquired, "There are banking problems for Iran-born Armenians. How can I benefit from state support? I am very interested in starting and developing work in agriculture, but from the perspective of banks providing state support, we are undesirable clients. I want to operate and live in Armenia and work in this field."

Prime Minister Pashinyan acknowledged that there is an important nuance in what the entrepreneur said, emphasizing the need to correctly understand the situation. He pointed out that the government does not have any involvement, at least not a negative one, in this matter since banks are private companies with foreign shareholders, and the government cannot intervene in the loan approval process, stating who should receive a loan or who should not.

"Months ago, when problems existed regarding our citizens who are also Iranian nationals, the government started communication with the banking system to maximize the protection of our citizens' interests to ensure they do not face discrimination," he said.

The Prime Minister promised that his assistant would establish contact with the entrepreneur to discuss the specific case further and mentioned that if one bank denies a loan, it might be possible to try obtaining a loan from another bank that has different policies.