YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Gazprombank faces serious competition in Armenia: the country's banking system is developing rapidly, in 2007 alone, branches of five foreign banks started operating in Armenia. The RA president Robert Kocharian said this when receiving Gazprombank's chairman Andrey Akimov and the board chairman Farid Kantserov on Janaury 25. According to a press release of the RA president's press service, R. Kocharian stated that being quite liberal, the Armenian banking legislation also envisages strict supervision of activities of banks. Presenting the work of Gazprombank, A. Akimov said that it is one of Russia's largest banks, which makes considerable investments in the economy along with carrying out banking activities. In his words, the bank is not pursuing immediate goals in Armenia but it intends to do serious work and has far-reaching goals and long-term programs. He assured the Armenian president that Armenia acquires a realiable and reasonable partner in the person of Gazprombank.

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