YEREVAN, December 23, /ARKA/. The Armenian government has given permission today to ratify a loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Earlier, EBRD said it was extending a €20 million sovereign loan to Armenia for the benefit of the Yerevan Bus Company to acquire new compressed natural gas buses.
The vehicles will improve the service for the city’s 1 million inhabitants by increasing the reliability, safety and efficiency of public transport while benefiting the environment by reducing emissions.
The EBRD loan is supported by a capital grant of €5 million provided by the Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environment Partnership (E5P), a multi-donor fund managed by the EBRD.
The European Union is the largest contributor to the E5P fund while Sweden is the largest bilateral donor and initiator of the fund. Other donors to the E5P fund in Armenia include the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovak Republic and the EBRD Taiwan Business TC Fund.
The project aims to enhance public transport mobility in Yerevan and is part of the EBRD’s Green Cities Framework, which is a program that supports municipal “green” investment, available across all of the economies where the EBRD invests.
The new low-floor buses will accommodate passengers with limited movement, including the elderly and disabled.
The Yerevan Bus Company will also benefit from EBRD’s technical cooperation support for corporate development, support to the introduction of new ticketing system, stakeholder engagement taking the different needs and abilities of the passengers into account, as well as advisory to enhance gender equality and inclusion through promoting safety for all, women in particular.
In 2020 the Yerevan Municipality bought 100 compact class buses and another 211 some 8.6 meter long buses have been bought this year. This year about 400 minibuses are to stop transportation of passengers in Yerevan due to the expiration of their service life (15 years).
The possibility of introducing an integrated transport network with a flexible fare system is being considered. In particular, the number of bus routes is to be cut from the current 111 to 42. In total there will be 845 buses and 101 trolleybuses in Yerevan. -0-
