Monday, October 24 2016 17:41

ArmInfo. The European Union is  the donor number 1 for Armenia.  The EU's share in the support  programmes in Armenia is more than 50%. The EU's annual financial  support to Armenia makes up nearly 50 mln EUR. Since Armenia gained  independence, the EU has provided over 500 mln EUR to Armenia, H.E.  Piotr Antoni Switalski, Ambassador, Head of the European Union  Delegation to the Republic of Armenia, said at a press conference on  October 24, when announcing the launch of the EU4Business Week in  Armenia. 

According to Ambassador Switalski, the major part of the financial  support is provided as budget assistance, which demonstrates  Armenia's high rating in terms of finance management, performance and  accountability. He said that probably the public thinks that the EU  has no feedback about the efficiency of the provided funds. The EU  has a very tough methodology of assessing the consumption of the  grant funds.  The EU thoroughly studies the budget support programmes  and makes analysis-based conclusions about their efficiency, because  the EU is anxious to make the process of European support to the  upcoming reforms in Armenia more effective. 

For instance, the funds provided for education reforms have been  spent in a proper manner and the result is obvious. On the other  hand, the young people graduating from educational institutions are  jobless. In this context, he said, it turns out that the final result  of the work done cannot be qualified as satisfactory. So, everything  is relative, he said.     

Ambassador Switalski urged media outlets to take part in the process  of assessing the efficiency of the EU- funded programmes and to come  out with specific proposals.     

To note, Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, H.E. Piotr  Antoni Switalski and the RA First Deputy Minister of Economic  Development and Investments, Garegin Melkonyan announced today the  launch of the EU4Business Week in Armenia during the opening of the  Eastern Partnership 8th Business Development Panel in Yerevan.   Running from 24 to 28 October 2016, the EU4Business Week will  highlight the EU support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)  through series of events and include other activities facilitating  private-public dialogue for the benefit of businesses both in the  Eastern partner countries and in Armenia. 

According to the Armenian Ministry of Economic Development and  Investments, the agenda of cooperation with the EU is quite large. A  support programme worth 45 mln EUR is underway in a variety of  fields: as much as 29 mln EUR will be spent on justice, 25 mln EUR -  on development of rural communities, 12 mln EUR - on human rights. In  addition, negotiations are being held with the EU to launch a 15 mln  EUR programme aimed at upgrading qualifications and creating new  jobs, as well as a 10 mln EUR programme aimed at improving the state  funds management policy, and a 5 mln EUR programme that looks to  conduct civil society reforms. "An active phase of discussions is  also underway to adjust the strategic directions of cooperation with  the EU for 2017-2020.