YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has confirmed that the investment program for the Armenian transport system is still in process. As far back as November 1994–the EBRD issued a loan of 22.1 million eurodollars to finance the landing and unloading facilities of the cargo complex at the "Zvartnots" air terminal.
The EBRD Yerevan Office told Noyan Tapan that once the construction stage is over–they’ll provide the government with means to organize a tender for the long-term operation of the complex.
The EBRD Yerevan office announced that the loan had been used to construct different buildings–stations and roads as well as to purchase equipment. Technical assistance was also rendered in the matter of introducing professional and market oriented management practices connected with the airport’s cargo system. The program also included proper registration–import and export monitoring and the introduction of amended procedures over the usage of some civilian goods requiring special attention.
EBRD officials are emphasizing the significance of the new "Zvartnots" facilities given the fact that Armenia has limited access to transport routes. As Armenia has no sea-ports–it heavily relies on the unsafe and only partially used transport routes lying through the neighboring countries. The total cost of the program is 26.9 million eurodollars.