EBRD issues $70-mln loan to Electric Networks of Armenia

YEREVAN. Sept 13 (Interfax) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has issued a loan totaling $70 million to CJSC Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), the EBRD said in a statement on its website.

"The EBRD is issuing a $70-million loan to ESA, including a loan from the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). The financing will support large-scale modernization of the distribution network in Armenia," the statement said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is also co-financing the ENA modernization project by issuing a loan totaling $35 million, the EBRD said in the statement.

The loan is aimed at solidifying ENA's distribution infrastructure, focusing on the regions as well as on the country's two largest cities of Yerevan and Gyumri that are part of the EBRD's Green Cities program. The funding is to support Armenia's digital transition through the large-scale implementation of automatic-control and smart-metering systems, as well as by improving the reliability and flexibility of the power grid and system capacity, the EBRD noted.

There were previous reports that the ADB would issue $35 million to ENA.

Electric Networks of Armenia is a monopoly for the distribution of electricity in Armenia, owned by the Tashir group of companies of Russian entrepreneur Samvel Karapetyan.

As previously reported, FMO on September 7 signed a participation agreement with the EBRD on allocating $10 million of the overall loan for ENA. FMO said in a statement that the funds would be used to upgrade and modernize the ENA distribution network, including installing smart meters. This is the second FMO loan to ENA following the $10-million loan agreement signed in 2017.