Tuesday, February 26 2019 18:10

ArmInfo. The European Union  will continue to study the expectations of the Armenian side in the  framework of the EU transport initiative, the basis of which is TEN-T  (Trans-European Transport Network) with a total budget of 13 billion  euros.

 On this, answering the question of ArmInfo, said the head of the EU  delegation, Ambassador Piotr Switsalski on February 26 at a meeting  with journalists. According to the diplomat, the initiative is  comprehensive and future-oriented. It is within this policy that the  construction of roads and railways, seaports and logistics centers is  planned. The main idea of this initiative, as the European diplomat  pointed out, is in a peculiar mix. That is, the EU, as before,  provides grant funds that, with other financial instruments and  resources offered by international lenders, can be used to increase  capacity in a particular area. Meanwhile, as the diplomat explained,  this TEN-T program can become part of another financial instrument -  the EU External Investment Plan, in which private investors can also  take part.

Today, as Piotr Switsalski: pointed out, the program is inconclusive  and can be expanded. "The figures that are presented today are  conditional, since they are based on a preliminary estimate," the  ambassador said.  The EU representatives with the Armenian partners  at this stage are discussing the possible inclusion of new projects  in the program. Armenia, like other beneficiaries of the program -  the Eastern Partnership countries can come up with new ideas. "In the  process of discussions, new opportunities can be created and new  projects generated. Thus, this is not a closed book - we are open to  new ideas and mature projects that may qualify for funding," he  explained. 

According to the ambassador, of  6 projects previously announced in  Armenia, 3 were approved, for example, the Meghri checkpoint  modernization program for more than 10 million euros, the  construction of the Lanzhik-Gyumri highway, which is part of the  construction of the North-South transport corridor.

Earlier, ArmInfo reported that the European Union will provide  Armenia with a loan in the amount of more than 700 million euros for  the implementation of infrastructure projects. According to the  report, posted on the website of the European Commission, the credit  resources allocated to Armenia will be part of the EU's overall  assistance to countries participating in the Eastern Partnership  program - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. 

The total budget of the program, which will be funded jointly by the  European Union and the World Bank, will be 13 billion euros. The  project involves the construction of roads and railways with a total  length of 4,800 kilometers, as well as the development of 6 ports,  airports, 11 logistics centers and checkpoints.In Brussels, they  believe that the development of infrastructure in the Eastern  Partnership countries will contribute to economic growth in these  countries and the creation of new jobs. Priority investments include  both short-term projects that will be completed by 2020, and  long-term projects aimed at improving transport links in the  framework of TEN-T until 2030.Note that since January 2014, the  European Union has developed a new transport policy, the basis of  which is TEN-T - the Trans-European Transport Network. The purpose of  the new policy is quite ambitious - to connect the continent both  from the West to the East and from North to the South, or quoting  European Commissioner Siim Kallas, <insert the necessary sections of  the transport network to the right places, thereby creating a single  network instead of the existing transport mosaic. If this strategy is  implemented successfully, then already in 2050, a trip around the EU  will take an average of half an hour, and the new transport network  will connect 94 ports, 38 airports, as well as 15 thousand kilometers  of modernized high-speed railways. For TEN-T implementation, there    has been allocated more than 24 billion euros.