ArmInfo. The Minister of Finance of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan received theHead of representation office of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Maciej Czura yesterday.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Finance, Khachatryan highly appreciated the cooperation with the European Investment Bank and attached importance to the programs implemented in various fields with co- financing of the EIB, such as the North-South highway and Sisian-Agarak highway, as well as the programs for managing the Yerevan Metro and the transport system of Yerevan, water resources and irrigation infrastructure. The EIB representative noted that he is aware of the steps taken by the Armenian government to improve the business environment, and stressed that the bank is ready to help its Armenian partners in this direction. At the same time, Czura expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Armenia and expressed confidence that all joint programs will further contribute to the development and diversification of the Armenian economy.
During the meeting, the parties discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the financial institution of the European Union (EU), whose function is to provide long-term financial support to investment programs. It was founded in 1958 and currently operates not only in the EU member states, but also in more than 150 countries. In these 150 countries, the EIB is based on EU external cooperation and policy development areas (private sector, infrastructure development, energy security and environmental sustainability).
February 12, 2008 in Luxembourg and on February 29 in Yerevan, a Framework Agreement was signed between the Republic of Armenia and the EIB, which regulates the activities of the EIB in the Republic of Armenia. The purpose of the Agreement is to facilitate the financing of investment programs of interest to Armenia with the support of the EIB through loans, guarantees or other mechanisms.
The EIB operates in Armenia mainly in the areas of energy, transport, water supply, solid waste management and the environment. The EIB's portfolio in Armenia is 327,542,044.82 euros. The EIB is involved in financing 16 programs in Armenia.
