Armenia gets first tranche of food grant from EU

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
July 12, 2004 Monday 1:25 AM Eastern Time

Armenia gets first tranche of food grant from EU

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

The European Commission has extended the first tranche of food grant
to Armenia worth 1.5 million euros, Armenian Minister for Finance and
Economy told Itar-Tass late on Sunday.

The total grant will amount to 9.5 million euros. The rest of the aid
will come in two parts, four million euros each, within a year.
According to the minister, the EU aid is “extremely important and
useful for Armenia”.

The European Union is financing the agriculture, social sphere,
statistics, real estate cadastre, and the system of state governing
of Armenia. The agrarian block includes forestry.

The head of the EC delegation to Armenia and Georgia, Torben Holtze,
this is the eighth program of aid to the republic. Starting from
1997, these two former Soviet republics have received aid worth 68.5
million euros. Armenia’s share is bigger than that of Georgia, he
added.

According to the diplomat, the aid program will be continued. Under
the program under development, which will cover the period up to the
year 2007, Armenia is expected to get 30 million euros.

Late this year, or early in 2005, the Armenian government is expected
to hold a forum of donor-countries, the finance minister reported.