ArmInfo. Armenia will allocate about 2.4 billion drams (approximately $6.2 million) for the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which will be held from May 14 to 16. The decision was made on May 2 at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
As stated in the explanation to the document, initially the state budget for 2024 planned to allocate 2 billion 219 million drams for the event.
"Financing of the organization of the annual meeting and business conference is planned to be carried out in two directions. Renting the venues for the event (the Dvin complex and the Seven Visions hotel, the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies and the A. Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, total cost: 419,229,800 Armenian drams) is planned to be carried out directly by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia , and the rest of the work will be done by a specialized event organizer. To attract the latter, a two-stage tender procedure was used, as a result of which Background Production LLC was declared the winner. The cost of the concluded agreement was 1,799,478,000 Armenian drams (including VAT).
After joint discussions with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, it became necessary to add a number of services within the framework of the event, worth about 179,000,000 drams, of which 138,000,000 drams are related to changes made to the contract (in the amount of 7.67 percent of the contract value) and 41,000,000 Armenian drams are intended for the purchase of a number of entertainment services within the framework of the event", says the draft decision.
Thus, the total organizational expenses of the annual meeting and business forum exceed the planned state budget allocations for 2024 by approximately 179 million drams.
From May 14 to 16, 2024, the annual meeting and business forum of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will be held in Yerevan. An unprecedented financial event for Armenia, it will bring together about 2,000 participants under one roof, including representatives of high-level official delegations from 74 countries, international organizations and private sector organizations. Part of the annual meeting will also be a business forum, entitled .
The EBRD's annual meetings provide the opportunity to hold high-level discussions on developments in the global financial and economic environment and issues of general interest, and to hold bilateral meetings with delegates and representatives of international organizations, foreign countries and other organizations. Within the framework of the mentioned meetings, plenary sessions are also held, at which the results of the work over the past year within the framework of the EBRD's activities are summed up and tasks for the future are planned. This year the EBRD will focus on three key themes - inclusion, digitalization and the green transition - in line with its priorities.
EBRD is the leading institutional investor in Armenia. The bank has invested over 2 billion 087 million euros in 210 projects in Armenia. The current portfolio of projects is estimated at 339 million euros.