EBRD to announce 44 million euro financing package for refugees in Armenia
YEREVAN, November 26. /ARKA/ A significant financing package of EUR 44million will soon be announced and deployed via several partners banks for the benefit of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, EBRD Managing Director for Turkey and the Caucasus, Elisabetta Falcetti s said in an exclusive interview with the ARKA news agency.
She said EBRD has also made significant progress in its own Refugee Response Plan by designing and implementing a number of upskilling and reskilling initiatives for the refugees to facilitate their economic integration.
‘We have also been actively supporting the development of the infrastructure in Armenia. These efforts complement and support the Government’s Crossroads of Peace initiative,’she added.
One of the most notable projects for this year was funding the construction of Sisian-Kajaran road part of the North-South corridor infrastructure rehabilitation.
According to her, as Armenia is landlocked, solid road infrastructure is crucial for an efficient flow of trade that can support the value chain, increase diversification and accelerate the growth of the private sector and the economy as a whole. This is a big priority for Armenia that will significantly improve the connectivity of Armenia with its neighbours.
Also, construction of new customs and logistics centre in Syunik, was another important project to enhance trade and simplify export and import procedures for Armenian businesses.
She said this project also has a soft component to integrate refugees into labour market in Armenia. What is more, the centre will be built to international energy efficiency standards and be one of the country’s first public structures to qualify as a “green building”.
For the construction of this center in Syunik, the EBRD provided Armenia with a loan of 10 million euros and a grant of 2 million euros from the Special Shareholders Fund (SSF) to co-finance the project.
The EBRD is one of the leading institutional investors in Armenia. During its operation in Armenia, it has invested 2.4 billion euros in 220 projects in areas such as energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, and finance.-0-
