ArmInfo.Starting from October 7, the atmosphere of Francophonie will prevail in Yerevan and throughout Armenia. This was announced on October 2 at the press conference in Yerevan by the Secretary General of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vahagn Melikyan.
According to him, the 105th meeting of the Permanent Council of the International Organization of la Francophonie (OIF) will take place on October 7, the 35th meeting of the OIF Ministerial Council will be held on October 8-9, the grand opening of the Francophonie village will take place on October 9, at 5:00pm local time on Freedom Square, preseneting more than 40 pavilions from more than two dozen countries. Moreover, under the patronage of the President of Armenia, a business forum will begin its work on October 10, in the "Tumo" Center for Creative Technologies, held for the first time on the sidelines of the summit, and the 17th OIF Summit will take place on October 11-12. Gala concert in the Republic Square is also scheduled on October 11.
The Secretary General of the Armenian Foreign Ministry stressed that more than 3,500 guests will arrive in the republic to participate in the event. "The heads of state and government of more than 40 countries have already confirmed their participation in the summit. This is an unprecedented scale. More than 60 local organizations are involved in organizational activities, more than 1,150 volunteers are involved," Melikyan said.
Answering the question how much money was spent on organizing the event, the Armenian Foreign Minister's Secretary General refused to present the figures, saying that there are still no final calculations. But at the same time, he assured that not a penny more than the funds, allocated from the state budget, was spent. Melikyan also added that recalculations were made in a number of areas to reduce costs. "A small amount was allocated by the OIF Secretariat, as well as sponsors helped us, a certain amount was also allocated from the reserve fund. But again, I want to assure you that we didn't spend a penny more than what we were allocated by the state," Melikyan said.