Yesterday, the board session of Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia (MCA-Armenia) took place chaired by the Armenian Prime Minister Tirgan Sargsyan. According to the information disseminated by the PR department of the government the board discussed and approved the 11th application submitted to the MCA, which includes the proposal, package of attached documents, quarterly and annual reports, work plan, procurement report and procurement plan. According to the MCA-Armenia general director Ara Hovsepyan the board discussed and confirmed the 11th application which provides with 7 million 993 thousands financial assistance in the second quarter of 2009. The funds will be directed to the reconstruction of rural roads, irrigation system and monitoring. Ara Hovsepyan noted that it has been spend 12 million dollars on road reconstruction so far. The funds on the irrigation system rehabilitation will be directed to continuing the works on laying 6 main waterways and other objects. Loan rise of 3 million dollars is scheduled for farmers. According to Ara Hovsepyan, by the end of current quarter the total amount of expenditure will count 30.8 million. The presented application will be discussed by the board of MCA-Armenia Corporation. The rest of the money will be spent to continue the road construction as planned by the first cycle. It is planned that after the full completion of the funds allotted for road-construction in April-May the government of Armenia will prepare another proposal to the MCA. Reminder: Two days ago on March 11 the United States has again extended the suspension of some of its additional economic assistance to Armenia, saying that the authorities in Yerevan have still not addressed U.S. concerns about the “status of democratic governance” in the country. It decided not lift the hold on road construction funding. “It’s now incumbent upon the government of Armenia to restore the Board’s confidence to its commitment to democracy and good governance. MCC has given the government of Armenia every opportunity to make meaningful reforms and will continue its direct communication about its expectations moving forward,” the US MCC Board concluded. The next session of the board of Armenian MCC will be held in June of 2009.
