ArmInfo.The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) will strive to formulate a sound and effective country strategy for Armenia for 2027-2031. Nikolay Podguzov, Chairman of the EDB Management Board, announced this on June 25 in Almaty during a conversation with journalists at the annual meeting and business forum dedicated to the bank's 20th anniversary.
Regarding the Bank's new projects for Armenia and the financing volume, Podguzov noted that the exact investment volumes are still being determined. He recalled that during the previous strategic period, they amounted to $380 million, noting that this amount exceeded the initial target. "Key projects in Armenia include the Electric Networks of Armenia, the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine, and a number of projects by the Yeremyan Pharm Group (for example, a solar power plant). I think a logistics project will also be added. Today, I believe, we are signing a project for the development of the My Leer tourist complex. Overall, taking into account what the Armenian Minister of Finance announced at the forum today, we will strive to formulate a sound and beneficial country strategy for Armenia," Podguzov noted.
Speaking generally about the Bank's projects, he recalled that the EDB has committed to invest $10.9 billion in projects in member countries over the 2022-2026 strategic period.
"We're currently ahead of this target: we've already surpassed the $10.9 billion mark, and I believe we'll reach $12 billion by the end of the year. For the next period-2027-2031-we've planned an investment volume of $13.5 billion. This is 10-15%, and potentially up to 20%, higher than the parameters in the previous strategy. We're confident we'll achieve this baseline scenario. While we certainly strive for a higher investment target, this will depend, among other things, on the growth of the bank's capital base. Therefore, we're using these benchmarks as our baseline scenario, and we'll continue to monitor the bank's capital growth. As for the breakdown of these investments by country, it will be determined as we finalize our country strategies, which I'm confident we'll adopt sometime in October or November," the EDB Management Board representative emphasized. Speaking about investment priorities, Podguzov noted that these include the Eurasian transport and logistics complex, food security and food logistics, high-value- added industry (in the new strategy, we are placing a special focus on high-value-added industry), and, of course, the Central Asian hydropower complex will retain its central place in the EDB's work.
