Armenia

Armenia Country Gender Assessment186. In Ashtarak, participants explained that bank loans are generally not available forstart-ups and that a borrower must show 6 months of experience. Focus group participantsin several regions stated that interest rates are very high—about 24%—and they “killbusinesses.” In addition to high rates, the repayment period is very short, and this isincompatible with the type of business ventures women often start (e.g., agriculturebasedbusinesses). In some cases, men who migrate abroad for work take loans in Armeniaand register these in the name of their wives, leaving them with the responsibility forrepayment.187. Several people raised a related issue, that a large number of women take loans notnecessarily for business but simply to cover everyday expenses. Women can easily findthemselves in a cycle of debt in which they take further loans to pay off the first one. Aparticipant in Goris said, “there is no woman in the town who has fewer than two loans.”First, this phenomenon complicates the process of assessing whether women have equalaccess to credit for their businesses since loans may be granted for one purpose but inactuality used for another. Second, because so many women have the experience oftaking one loan after another, they are afraid to apply for loans or microfinance for theirbusinesses. For women to overcome this fear, they must fully understand the contractterms and the risks before deciding. Focus group participants thought that specifictechnical assistance related to borrowing would be especially useful for businesswomen.188. In reference to questions about the utility of providing special loans or creditlines to businesswomen, some respondents suggested that different interest rates couldbe applied to female and male borrowers. Alternatives to loans and microcredit werealso suggested such as grants or seed money tied to mandatory training programs. It wasnoted that some women are in such a vulnerable position (in lack of capital or businessknowledge, and doing business in risky sectors such as agricultural production), that loansare not recommended at all. Such women are at great risk of losing money and becomingincreasingly impoverished.189. Unequal access to human capital and support. Women also lack access toimportant human and social assets such as specialized knowledge/skills, information, andbusiness networks. In a poll of female entrepreneurs, 56% identified a need for consultingand services related to “advertising, marketing and [public relations],” and 44% a need fortraining (of those, 69% wanted training in specific professional skills, followed by businessdevelopment training, e.g., management, marketing, accounting,and legislation). 262 Whilesome interviewees from organizations that offer training felt that teaching the basic stepsin how to start a business is still needed, almost all focus group participants agreed with thesurvey findings described above and stated that women need more advanced and targetedtraining. They particularly emphasized the need for marketing skills and how to do basicmarket research before starting a business. In fact, women from Gyumri emphasized thatthe starting point for all business training for women should be market assessments ratherthan how to run a business.190. The topic of marketing is especially important for businesswomen, because thedomestic market is small for the goods and services that women tend to produce. Women262 Assessment of Women Entrepreneurship Development in Armenia, p. 29.56