The number of employees at the Computing Techniques and Informatics Scientific Research Institute  (CTI SRI) , commonly known as IT Park, in Yerevan has been halved in recent years. Right now, the company has thirty employees.

It’s an office centre that rents out space and computer equipment to around 50 firms employing some 600 people. IT Park management says that Artshininvest Bank is the cause of the problem.

In 2010 IT Park took out a $2.8 million loan from the bank. As collateral, the company used a 1.695 hectare parcel of land and a 13,200 square meter building at #6/1 Abelyan Street, Yerevan.

At the time, the Tigris Company appraised the property at $2.8 million ($7 million at today’s exchange rate)

IT Park has already paid back $1 million to the bank. Now Artshininvest Bank claims that the company still owes $3.3 million. The bank has registered its right to the property through the State real estate Registry.

Gagik Karapetyan, President of IT Park, says he’s been dealing with the bank on a conscientious basis since 1998 and that the company has taken eight loans out in the period.

60.95% of the shares of CTI SRI are held by CIT Ltd. In 2009, a Yerevan court declared the company bankrupt. The following year a business plan to resurrect the company was drafted and Artshininvest Bank expressed a willingness to loan the company $2.5 million at 15% annually.

“Later, Artshininvest refused to loan us the money at $15. The bank said they wanted to loan us $2.8 million at 17%. I had to accept in order to pull the company out of bankruptcy,” says Karapetyan.

For 16 months, CTI SRI paid off its obligations to the bank.

“I then went to the bank and requested a bit more breathing room on the loan payoff. They agreed and said I wouldn’t have to pay anything for six months but that they would add the six months to the principal,” says Karapetyan. “My loan went from $2.5 to $2.8 million again. They began to calculate interest on the additional amount. They also forced me to sign an agreement saying that the interest rate wasn’t 17% but 20%. Otherwise, they threatened to seize my property.”

From the start, a general meeting of the CTI SRI shareholders agreed to the %15 loan. The bank knew about this decision. According to Karapetyan, the fact that he disregarded the decision of the shareholders led to the agreement he signed with the bank to be declared null and void.

“The bank had created a no way out situation. I was paying off the loan in U.S. dollars. If we take the appreciation of the dollar at the time, I was paying more like 30% and not 20%. Clearly, such rates are impossible for any business to pay,” says Karapetyan.

CIT Ltd. took Artshininvest Bank to court and CTI SRI sued the State Real estate Registry. As a result, the courts placed a freeze order on the collateral property. But today, the bank is still trying to sell the property. Furthermore, the bank is still declaring that CTI SRI owes $7,600. The bank is preparing to petition the courts to declare the company bankrupt based on this.

Karapetyan also claims that the bank has withdrawn $500,000 from the CTI SRI account to pay for the court fees. “Who gave the bank the right to withdraw money from the company’s account? It’s outrageous. The Central Bank and law enforcement have to look into this,” he says.

Artshininvest Bank has not responded to letters sent by CTI SRI.

Hetq wrote to the bank for clarification.

Artshininvest Bank President Mher Grigoryan responded that the information provided us by Gagik Karapetyan is false and merely a ruse to avoid paying what is owed.