ArmInfo. In Armenia over the next few years, we intend to significantly increase spending on education, healthcare and infrastructure. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this in an interview with the ''Bulletin of the EAEU Economy''.
According to him, this process will be accompanied by deep and comprehensive political and institutional reforms. Pashinyan informed that in Armenia the Economic Activity Index for the first half of the year is 6.5%, which promises stable growth in 2019.
In addition, in 2018, Armenia became the second largest producer of added value in the manufacturing industry among middle and upper middle income countries and registered a 10% growth. Tax revenues also increased by more than 25% in the first half of this year.
Pashinyan also drew attention to the fact that tourism is one of the main and most sustainable sectors of the economy. Another important sector is the processing industry.
''The growth of the added value of industry over three years exceeds 10%. Cumulative growth over three years is inferior only to Vietnam and Bangladesh. In addition, industry continues to grow at the expense of traditional sectors such as cognac, food production and metallurgy'', the prime minister said.
The positive pace of development of light industry and the production of high-tech goods was pointed out. In addition, multimillion-dollar investments are made into the production of wines and other alcoholic beverages.
In parallel with traditional sectors of industry, the renewable energy industry is actively developing. Thus, by the end of this year, it is expected to launch a project to build the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in the region on an industrial scale with a peak capacity of 55 MW ($ 60 million) in the Gegharkunik region of Armenia. The next step, according to Pashinyan, will be the preparation of five solar stations with a total capacity of 120 MW (approximately $ 120 million). "Also, an indirect result of the development of this area was the appearance of several domestic manufacturers of solar panels at once," Pashinyan informed.
To recall, "FRV Masrik", established by a foreign consortium, will build a Masrik-1 solar power plant in the Metz Masrik community of the Gegharkunik region of Armenia. A consortium of a Dutch company with Spanish roots Photowatio Renewable Ventures B.V and Spanish FSL Solar S.L. won a tender for the construction of the Masrik-1 station with a capacity of 55 MW. (FSL Solar SL), which, in turn, founded the FRV Masrik company in Armenia. In the selected area, all the necessary infrastructural conditions have been created for the construction of a modern powerful photovoltaic station that will generate 120-150 million kW / h of electricity and provide 2% of the total energy produced in the republic. According to experts, the construction of Masrik-1 will amount to 55 million euros, however, officially, the amount of investments in the construction of the station has not been reported.
The total cost of the program for the construction of solar power plants in Armenia is $ 129 million. In total, within the framework of the program, it is planned to build solar stations with industrial capacity of up to 110 megawatts in various regions of Armenia. Of the 6 surveyed locations in two, the Spanish consulting company Aries Engineering has already submitted feasibility studies. They relate to the Masrik (Masrik-2) areas in the Gegharkunik region and the Dashtadem in the Aragatsotn region, research on the remaining four areas is ongoing.