ArmInfo.The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is ready to consider requests from the private sector and provide technical assistance to establish a fully functional public-private partnership (PPP) market in Armenia for the sustainable development of the country.
This was stated by Svetlana Maslova, Director of PPP Projects at the EDB Project Support Department, during an event on the Bank's technical assistance project on the development of public-private partnership (PPP) institutional environment and PPP competences building in the Republic of Armenia in partnership with the Russian-Armenian University.
Recalling that the Armenian government has been working on the development of PPP since 2008, Maslova added that legislative initiatives and target aspirations in this area have already been enshrined, and the areas of public services available for the implementation of projects have been identified. However, as she noted, the list of sectors available for PPP needs to be expanded, since it does not currently meet the needs of infrastructure development. According to her, experts recommend including areas such as digital structure, tourism, renewable energy sources, and logistics infrastructure in this list. Maslova also emphasized that the PPP market in Armenia is still in its early stages of development.
Maslova emphasized the importance of having a PPP database for institutional growth. " Although the legal framework for it exists in Armenia, it is not yet operational The key element of the institutional PPP system is the national PPP center, which is absent in Armenia, while it is already present in all other EAEU countries," she noted. Maslova expressed hope that the availability of financing for PPP projects will become tangible, rather than nominal. She recommended including credit guarantees in the list of types of state support and developing a risk assessment methodology. In turn, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the EDB Yaroslav Mandron noted that three years ago an agreement was reached with the Armenian government on the necessity of developing a strategy for the Bank's operations in the country, particularly in the area of PPP development. According to him, today the results of collaborative efforts to address the tasks set are obvious.
"This is our first time conducting a PPP review. We have already made progress: today we discussed the possibilities of cooperation with the Ministry of Finance. They are willing to support in terms of financial resources and sharing their experience from other countries. We look forward to collaborating with universities in the future," Mandron emphasized. The Bank representative highlighted the interest of students and universities in this topic, emphasizing the potential for developing PPP in private businesses in Armenia.
