EUROPEAN INTEGRATION "A VERY BAD THING" FOR ARMENIANS?

news.am
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

The Armenian society is not well informed of "European integration"
high-ranking official are talking about so much,Naira Zohrabyan,
Chairwoman of the Standing Committee on European Integration, RA
Parliament, stated at a discussion of the 2010 draft budget.

"A poll showed that European integration implies ‘very bad things’
for the Armenian society," she said.

Under the 2010 draft budget, however, Armenia’s expenses on this
process are to total 233m AMD, which will be more than compensated
by European grants and credits. RA Deputy Minister of Finance Pavel
Safaryan reported that, on the European Commission’s recommendation,
the European Union recently decided to allocate a total of â~B¬100m
to Armenia — a â~B¬35m grant and a â~B¬65m credit. The funds will
be provided in the first and fourth quarters of next year respectively.

Another â~B¬14m are provided to Armenia under the European Partnership
Program during three years, with the last tranche to be received
next year. About â~B¬11m will be channeled to the education sector,
with the rest of the funds intended for judicial reforms. The EU will
issue a â~B¬2m grant to Armenia for nuclear security, and a â~B¬3m
grant for food security.