ArmInfo. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union will provide 21146263 euros to Armenia for the modernization and expansion of the Meghri checkpoint on the Armenian-Iranian border. As the press service of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia reports, head of the Ministry of Finance Atom Janjughazyan and Head of EBRD Armenia Office Dimitri Gvindadze have signed the document on February 7.
According to the source, more than half of the total amount - 10 520 000 euros and 700 000 euros will be provided in the form of a grant by the European Union as part of the European Neighborhood Policy.
Earlier, Dmitry Maryasin, Permanent Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Armenia, said that with the financing of the European Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), it is planned to modernize the border post in Meghri. The UNDP Permanent Representative in Armenia recalled that the road from the Meghri border checkpoint takes 5-6 hours. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in the development of physical infrastructure, in particular, in improving the clearance of goods and in filling out customs declarations, he noted. Then it will take much less time already for trucks transporting goods from Iran or transit through the territory of Armenia, since having completed a customs declaration once, there will be no need to fill it out again. "There will be a unified system of electronic declaration, which will save as much time as, for example, it would be possible to save thanks to a better road or a more efficient border crossing. It is also important that a single window system is introduced, which will also reduce level of corruption risks, "the UNDP representative emphasized.
ArmInfo reported that with the financial support of the EU and the European Investment Bank, within the framework of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), three checkpoints on the state border of Armenia were modernized: Bagratashen, Bavra and Gogavan. The total budget for modernization of these three checkpoints amounted to 54.43 million euros. According to the information of the EU delegation in Armenia, within the framework of the program, the Armenian government received a loan from the EU in the amount of 30.8 million euros, grants for 17.2 million euros. Co-financing of the Armenian government amounted to 4.44 million euros. UNDP financial investments amounted to 1.9 million euros.
