Yerevan/Luxembourg - The European Investment Bank (EIB) today signed its first loan agreement with Armenia. The EUR 5m financing will be for upgrading the metro in Yerevan, thereby helping to improve the urban environment in the Armenian capital.

Yerevan’s metro is one of the city’s main transport systems. The EIB will co-finance the rehabilitation of rolling stock, track and power supply system components, a maintenance train and new water pumps. Its support will improve the quality of life for the citizens of Yerevan by encouraging greater use of public transport and reducing car emissions and other environmental problems. Passenger comfort, transport safety and the working conditions of Yerevan metro staff will also benefit from the project.  

The Republic of Armenia is borrowing the funds from the EIB while Yerevan Metropoliten Karen Demirchyan CJSC is the final beneficiary of the loan. The project is being co-financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a grant from the European Commission’s Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF).

Background:

The mission of the EIB, the European Union’s bank, is to contribute to the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States by financing sound investment. Outside the Union, EIB lending supports EU economic cooperation and development policies.

The EIB finances projects in the Eastern Partner Countries: Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus (where this is subject to future EU Council and Parliament agreement) on the basis of an EU Council and Parliament mandate of EUR 3.7 billion for the period 2007-2013. There are no individual country or sector allocations for extended major trans-European network corridors, projects with cross-border implications for one or more Member States or major projects favouring regional integration through increased connectivity or environmental improvement schemes.