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.