ArmInfo. On October 2, at its regular meeting, the Armenian government approved the proposal to sign a Letter of Agreement Supplement No. 3 to the Financing Agreement 'Community-Based Infrastructure in the Water Sector' between the Republic of Armenia and the European Investment Bank."
As stated in the explanatory note to the document, the amendments are being introduced to extend the deadline for the final disbursement of loan funds for the activities implemented under the Program.
The program financing agreement was signed on June 24, 2014, and provided for the provision of a loan of ?25.5 million to Armenia. However, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Finance and with the consent of the EIB, approximately ?8.8 million of the loan funds were subsequently cancelled, amounting to approximately ?16.66 million. The second amendment to the financing agreement extended the availability of the loan funds until 31 December 2024. During this period, EUR 13.6 million was disbursed, leaving a total of EUR 3.06 million undisbursed.
The current amendment extends the final availability of the EIB loan funds until 30 December 2025 and ends the program by 31 December 2026, as well as amends the deadlines for submitting information and reports related to the Project's implementation.
In accordance with the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia dated 23 February 2017, the functions for the further implementation of the Project were transferred to the State Enterprise "Office for the Implementation of Water Management Programs," and in accordance with the decision of 28 February 2019, to the Territorial Development Fund of Armenia.
The EIB loan is partly financing (jointly with a KFW loan, a grant from the European Union's Neighbourhood Investment Facility and co-financing from the Government of the Republic of Armenia) the Community Infrastructure Programme II, Phase 3 - Water Supply and Sanitation Infrastructure in Armenia, which envisages improvement of the water supply and sanitation systems of 14 towns and 49 communities in 7 regions of the Republic of Armenia (Shirak, Lori, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Kotayk, Vayots Dzor and Syunik), including additional construction works worth approximately EUR 9.2 million (including taxes) in 13 communities of the regions covered by the project. A design and technical supervision contract has been signed for the project, and design and survey work is underway. Large-scale construction work is currently underway under three existing construction contracts for a total amount of approximately EUR 35.1 million. The project cost is EUR 35.1 million, and the completion rate is approximately 93.5%. "Construction work is planned to be fully completed in 2025," report the authors of the document, represented by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia.
