EBRD to allocate 236 mln euros to Armenia for road construction

YEREVAN. May 15 (Interfax) - The Armenian government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have concluded a loan agreement totaling 236 million euros.

Armenian Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan and Nandita Parshad, Managing Director of the EBRD Sustainable Infrastructure Group, signed the document during the EBRD's 33rd annual meeting and business forum in Yerevan, an Interfax correspondent reported from the signing ceremony.

The EBRD will finance the agreement jointly with the Asian Development Bank.

The funds will be used to construct part of the North-South interstate transport corridor, particularly the southern section of the Sisian-Kajaran highway in the Syunik Region in southern Armenia. Constructing the 24.2 km section and "straightening" the existing route will reduce the length of the road between Sisian and Kajaran by nearly half compared to the current 118 km.

Armenian Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Minister Gnel Sanosyan earlier said that loan funds totaling around 373 million euros would be raised to finance the project.