Armenia to Receive €34 Million Grant from the European Union in 2015

YEREVAN — The Armenian government expects to receive next year some 34.4 million euros as grants from the European Union, despite the fact that it is joining the Eurasian Economic Union, first deputy finance minister Pavel Safaryan said today during a parliamentary discussion on the 2015 draft budget.

He said 14.4 million euros of that amount will come as targeted grants, which must be spent on specific programs, and 20 million euros as grants for budget support to be spent at the discretion of the government.

He said the expected amount is as much as the government received this year from the European Union as grants.

Deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said the EU was and is one of the important partners of Armenia.”In the near future we plan to hold discussions on the trade-economic component of our cooperation with the EU. This will be followed by political consultations between Armenia and the EU with a view of forming a new framework of cooperation,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

“The European Union remains an important partner and Armenia is interested in deepening cooperation with the EU, taking into account its commitments assumed as a member of the Eurasian Economic Union,” said Kocharyan.