ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, the Armenian Office for Program Development of the United Nations and the National Platform for Reducing Natural Risks signed a tripartite memorandum, within which the parties intend to mitigate the hail effects in agriculture in a joint effort. As the press service of the Bank told ArmInfo, within the framework of the memorandum, ACBA-Credit Agricole will provide targeted AMD loans to farmers for purchasing anti-hail grids. The maximum maturity of these loans is set at 7 years, the interest rate is min 12.5% per annum. The United Nations, for its part, will provide 20% in the form of a grant. The ARNAP Foundation will consult farmers how to maintain the proper state of the anti-grating mesh, and will ensure the performance of work on measurements, installation and operation. "One of the main goals of the program is the development of farms in Armenia, and the formation of a culture of application of innovative systems of protection against natural disasters," said ACBA-Credit Agricole Executive Director Hakob Andreasyan. In his turn, the permanent representative of the United Nations Development Program in Armenia, Dmitry Mariasin, noted: "We have already imported Italian anti-hail grids, which have a maximum guarantee of 12 years and high efficiency." He also added that the government of Armenia will be provided with data on the effectiveness of anti-hail grids, the collection and documentation of which will be carried out within the framework of the signed memorandum. Attaching importance to the tripartite cooperation, the acting Director of the ARNAP Foundation Ara Barseghyan noted that in the process of effective reduction of risks from natural disasters there is a need for cooperation of several structures. According to the study, about 4-5% of the crop perished in the plant growing segment of the hail, which is estimated at 16-20 billion AMD in the annual calculation. Vineyards and fruit and vegetable farms suffer the most from hail. To note, "ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank" CJSC has been operating in Armenia since 1995. Since September 2006, the largest European banking group Credit Agricole SA has been the majority shareholder of the bank. With a 15.56% equity interest, followed by the participation of SJSC Sacam International (a member of the Credit Agricole SA group) in the amount of 12.44%, along with which there are 10 regional Unions of Peasant Mutual Assistance). The bank is among the leaders in coverage of the branch network and in the number of regional branches. The portfolio of agricultural loans ACBA-Credit Agricole traditionally leads - in the loan portfolio of the bank in this area accounts for about 40%. In the total agricultural credits of the banking system, the share of ACBA- Credit Agricole Bank dominates - over 52%. But the bank is not limited to the agricultural sector, actively financing such areas as SMEs, industry and trade, while being leaders and retail lending. Source - http://www.finport.info