Minister: infrastructure programs worth $ 88 million is planned to implement in 10 cities of Armenia

ArmInfo. According to the  results of the regional visits of the Prime Minister of Armenia Karen  Karapetyan, 175 investment projects were received from the Kotayk  region in the first eight months of 2017 from the Kotayk region to  the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development. The  government approved 58 of them, 15 - funding and another 60 are under  discussion. The Minister of Territorial Administration and  Development David Lokyan stated this to journalists on October 10,  speaking about the results of the annual activity of the ministry.

According to the Minister, 108 out of 175 submitted programs were  discussed with potential investors, were submitted to the court of  the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments and the Central  Bank of Armenia, and transferred to the Government apparatus. 58 of  them received the approval of the Government, and only 15 received  funding. According to Lokyan, the authors of 18 programs did not  accept the proposed interest rate of 12%, 10 asked for grant funds, 5  - for lack of pledged property, 11 - for other reasons. The total  budget of the financed 15 programs amounted to 422 million AMD. The  presented programs concern, in particular, the sphere of processing  of agricultural products, tourism, construction of power stations,  mining industry, and also construction of machine and tractor  stations.

Armenian government also discuss the concept of the creation of  centers for provision of economic growthin the cities of the  republic. Within the framework of the concept, it is planned to  create appropriate infrastructures in the cities. To implement the  first stage of the project, 10 cities will be selected, where  infrastructure programs are planned, in particular in the sphere of  tourism and processing agriculture, worth $ 88 million.

In addition, currently in Armenia - in Dilijan, Gyumri, Noyemberyan,  Kapan, Vaik, Vanadzor, Armavir, with the financing of the EU,  programs worth 10 million EUR were launched, the minister said. The  co- financing of the Armenian government will be 1.75 million EUR.  The programs are aimed at ensuring the economic development of  communities in the areas of IT, renewable energy, tourism, management  of solid domestic waste, processing of agricultural products. As a  result of their implementation, about 500 new jobs are expected to be  created. Thus, the program, launched in Noyemberyan, for the amount  of 1.3 million EUR, is aimed at creating a factory for the production  of dairy products, refrigeration facilities, and orchards based on  drip irrigation. The program will provide 100 jobs. The Vaik project  is aimed at creating a 1 MW solar station. Microsoft in the IT center  in Gyumri is launching a large program that will provide permanent  jobs for about 100 people. IDEA Foundation creates a large tourist  center, in which 20 enterprises will be provided with grant funds,  more than 50 jobs will be created.

At the same time, currently 15 investment programs are implemented in  Armenia solely with the state budget. Their total budget is about 1.5  billion AMD. Another 32 similar programs are waiting for their turn  of funding. One of the programs that received funding involves the  construction of a metallurgical workshop in Ashtarak. The authors of  the project are Armenians from Syria. Two programs are being  implemented in the Vayots Dzor region, one related to the production  of goat cheese and the development of goat breeding, the second -  with the export of canned organic agricultural products. As the  minister pointed out, there is a false impression that Armenia does  not participate in programs financed by international structures. "As  a rule, Armenia takes part in all investment programs carried out on  the territory of the country at a rate of 35%: 25% is directed from  the state budget, 10% from the funds of the community budget," the  minister explained.