Announcement of Armenia Joins World Bank on September 16, 1992

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.* Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 93/S14 Contact: Peter Riddleberger Tel. (202) 473-1786 ARMENIA JOINS WORLD BANK WASHINGTON, September 16, 1992--Armenia joined the Interna- tional Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) today. Alexander Arzoumanian, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations, signed the IBRD's Articles of Agreement during a ceremony held at the U.S. Department of State in Washington. The country becomes the 168th member of the IBRD, which is the World Bank Group's main lending arm that provides loans at market rates to member countries to help them finance development projects. To fulfill its financial obligations as a member of the IBRD, Armenia is making a payment of $5.92 million to the institution. Armenia applied for membership in the IBRD on January 9, 1992. It is the 10th former Soviet republic to have joined the IBRD. Russia joined on June 16, Estonia on June 23, and Lithuania on July 6, Belarus on July 10, Kazakhstan on July 23, Georgia on August 7, Latvia on August 11, Moldova on August 12, and Ukraine on September 3. Armenia also signed the Convention Establishing the Multilat- eral Investment Guarantee Agency and the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes.