Amundi-AcbA makes major investment in Armenia's real economy from pension funds (VIDEO)

YEREVAN, November 10. /ARKA/. The 4 MW photovoltaic solar power plant Solis covering an area of 6 hectares is located in Partizak community of Aragatsotn region.

The plant has been operating for nine months already and is connected to Armenia's electricity grid. From the environmental point of view some 3,200 tons less of emissions are produced per year, which equals to planting about 120 thousand trees. The plant was commissioned by the EU-Armenia Small and Medium Business Fund.

The Solis solar power plant is the first project funded by Amber Capital's EU-Armenia SME Equity Fund, in which Amundi-Acba Asset Management has invested. The company made investments in the real sector of the economy from the Weighted and Conservative pension funds. Amundi-Acba's contribution accounts for about 10% of the EU-Armenia SME Fund's total resources, according to Acba Bank's press service.

In 2020, the EU-Armenia SME Fund financed the construction of Solis power plant in the amount of 2.9 billion drams. Of the investment amount, some 830 million drams were the money of the Fund, and the rest - about 75% - were borrowed assets. This also means that beneficiaries of the Amundi-Acba-managed Weighted and Conservative pensions funds are indirect shareholders of the power plant.

"It is very important for our company to have an investment environment and the ability to direct the money of the funded pension funds to the real sector of the economy. On the one hand, we manage funds of future pensioners, and any investment must comply with the legislation and our criteria, and on the other hand, by making investments in the real economy, we contribute to the development of the economy and creation of new jobs. In addition, any investment must have a long-term yield and comply with ESG criteria: environmental protection, social policy and governance. We were able to make investments in the creation of the Fund and today we are the first private investor in the EU-Armenia SME Fund with an investment commitment of $9 million. This is a private equity fund that invests in the real economy to develop Armenian companies," said Jean Mazedjian, director of Amundi-Acba Asset Management.

"We are fortunate to have an investor like Amundi-Acba, which initially promoted us and agreed to invest and become one of our main investors. The solar power plant's panels are double-sided, which allows us to have higher productivity and more output per square meter. Our planned production volume will be 7.5-7.8 million kWh a year, which will allow supplying power to 4,000 households," said Karen Arabyan, director of Solis LLC and representative of the EU-Armenia SME Fund.

Amundi -Acba Asset Management is controlled by the Central Bank of Armenia. -0-