ArmInfo. The Ministry of Finance of Armenia signed a cooperation agreement with the French Development Agency (The Agence Francaise de Developpement - AFD) for 2024-2027. The Agency's press service reports, referring to the results of a meeting in the RA government, which took place with the participation of the Ambassador of France to Armenia Olivier Decottignies and Bertrand Walckenae, Deputy CEO the AFD.
This strategic document between the AFD and the Republic of Armenia is aimed at strengthening partnership in the following priority areas: territorial sustainability, regional connections, as well as agriculture, irrigation, energy, urban and rural development.
It is reported that the AFD delegation visited the construction site of the Vedi reservoir in order to familiarize itself with the progress of work.
"The French Development Agency Group, consisting of AFD, Proparco and Expertise France, has a wide range of financial and technical tools and can mobilize French experience to support the ambitious development of Armenia. Since 2014, the AFD Group has been financing sovereign and non-sovereign projects in Armenia in cooperation with donor organizations.
Proparco is a subsidiary of the French Development Agency Group, working with the private sector, through the banking sector it provides support to the entrepreneurial segment and the development of the renewable energy sector. Expertise France is a technical operator that implements projects in the field of public financial management and environmental justice for the AFD and the European Union," the source says.
On January 26, 2016, in order to finance the construction of a reservoir in Vedi, the French Development Agency allocated a loan of 75 million euros to the Republic of Armenia (co-financing from the Government of the Republic of Armenia will amount to 15 million euros), within the framework of which it is planned to build a reservoir with a volume of 29.4 cubic meters and a water surface of 120 hectares. The sources of water will be the rivers of the Ararat region - Vedi and Khosrov. Full implementation of the program will make it possible to alleviate the problem of water shortage in the Ararat Valley, as well as move from mechanical irrigation to a gravity supply system, which, in turn, will lead to energy savings. The project was initially planned to be completed within four years, but at the end of May 2022, according to the RA government, the project was completed by 77 percent.
The construction of the reservoir is of great strategic importance for Armenia. Turkey previously announced its plans to build large reservoirs on the Araks, which carries risks for the Armenian side in the form of a shortage of irrigation water. Armenia cannot completely neutralize such risks, but the Vedi reservoir will help mitigate the consequences of Turkish water expansion.
