Thursday, May 2 2024 15:14

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.