Eurasian Development Bank ready to invest $100 million in Armenia projects
ALMATY (KAZAKHSTAN), May 15. /ARKA/. The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is ready to release $100 million in fresh loans to finance a number of infrastructure projects in Armenia's energy and transport sectors in 2023-2024.
"Last year was quite good in terms of our cooperation with Armenia, and we would like to maintain the same pace this year," EDB deputy chairman Denis Ilyin told Armenian journalists on the sidelines of the 46th annual meeting of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) held on May 15-17 in Kazakhstan's Almaty.
Ilyin said that traditionally the EDB in Armenia emphasized cooperation with banks, but the situation is changing. According to him, last year only $5mln of the $100mln financing went to projects with Armenian banks, while the rest went to the real sector of economy.
Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the EEU Board, pointed out the importance of the project to modernize and expand the capacity of the Upper Lars checkpoint (located on the Russian-Georgian border, which is the only overland road for Armenia to Russia).
"We have expressed interest in participation in this project, but here it is necessary to have a project operator that will prepare all the necessary documentation and an economic model for financing. When the idea turns into a project with a developed feasibility study, then we will talk about it," Podguzov said.
EDB Deputy Chairman Ilyin confirmed the bank's interest in participating in the modernization of the Yerevan Metro.
"It is a very important project. We are ready to provide financing both for research and development of pre-project documentation. Our bank cannot work on the level of talks, concrete documents and financial model are necessary," Ilyin specified.
In 2022 the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) signed agreements to finance projects in Armenia worth about $100 million.
Under the first agreement the EDB is to provide $30 million to the Tashir group of companies for the introduction of international management standards and automated accounting systems in Armenia.
According to the second agreement, signed with the New Energy group of companies, the EDB will allocate up to $37 million to finance the construction of 11 solar power plants with a total capacity of up to 65 MW. They will be located in the Gegharkunik and Aragatsotn regions of Armenia.
The third agreement, signed with Yeremyan Projects LLC, is aimed at ensuring food security and sustainable economic development of Armenia in the agro-industrial complex. The bank will allocate $25 million for these purposes. -0-
