Wednesday, February 6 2019 14:50

ArmInfo. Six educational institutions of Yerevan will be completely demolished and built new ones. This decision was made at a government meeting on February 6.

Presenting the draft decision, Minister of Territorial Administration  and Development of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan stressed  that within the framework of the seismic resistance-improving  program, financed by the Asian Development Bank, it is envisaged to  strengthen buildings of about 400 schools.  ADB provided $ 88.5  million for the project. At this stage, 46 of the most vulnerable  educational institutions were selected. Studies conducted by  international experts showed that there is a need to demolish 6  schools in Yerevan and to build new ones in their place that can  withstand an earthquake of up to 9 points. Yerevan Basic School N18,  Yerevan Heratsi High School, Yerevan Hakob Kojoyan Educational  Complex, Yerevan School N6, Yerevan School N116 and Yerevan School  N95 are among these schools. The Minister stressed that the  construction of 6 new schools will begin this year.

Pointing to the importance of implementing the program, Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan, at the same time, expressed dissatisfaction  with the pace of construction. According to him, the program started  in 2015, and so far little has been done in this direction. "One  thing is surprising: funding exists, schools are known, and the  project is dragged out. At this rate we will not be able to solve the  task for a long time," the head of government stressed, also calling  for greater control over the quality of construction work. "It is  considered that if it is a question of state construction, then it is  possible to do the work of the tap-off, and it is important that the  control over the quality of construction and the efficient use of  financial resources be up to the mark," said Nikol Pashinyan.

The Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia Atom Janjughazyan  agreed with this, who noted that $ 60 million of credit funds had not  yet been used. For the same reason, there are no deductions from the  state budget in the form of co-financing in the amount of $ 18.5  million.

Earlier, ArmInfo reported that the project is being implemented on  credit resources of the Asian Development Bank. The total cost of the  program is estimated at $ 107 million, of which $ 88.5 million will  be provided by ADB, and $ 18.5 million - by the RA government. In  total, 46 schools are involved in the program, of which 20 have  already begun construction work. Schools are selected on the basis of  research conducted by a specially created working group, and approved  last July by an interdepartmental commission. To note, on November  12, 2015, the Armenian government approved a loan agreement signed  with October 19, 2015 with the Asian Development Bank in the amount  of $ 85.5 million to increase the seismic safety of schools. Loan  servicing payments must be made every six months. The interest rate  is 2% per annum, the repayment period is 25 years, of which 5 years  is a grace period.

In total, over the period from 2015 to 2030, more than 400 schools  that will meet modern standards, including seismic resistance, will  be built or rehabilitated and modernized within the framework of the  large loan program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The total  cost of this ADB program is $ 617 million.