The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending a €20 million sovereign loan to Armenia.

The sum will provide Yerevan Bus Company an opportunity to acquire new compressed natural gas buses which will improve the service for the city’s 1 million inhabitants.

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 project aims to enhance public transport mobility in Yerevan. 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 consulting services.

“We are confident that the new buses will be well received by the public and will improve environmental and safety standards. This will boost demand for public transport and facilitate its expansion. Our priority is to improve lives for the citizens of Armenia and make the environment more ‘green’,” said Dimitri Gvindadze, EBRD Head of Yerevan office.

The EU Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin mentioned that “The initiative will not only help to shape transport transformation and to care more about the environment, but also will provide safe, reliable and affordable transportation to passengers with limited movement.”

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Armenia. Since the start of its operations in the country, the Bank has invested over €1.67 billion in 195 projects in the financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors, with 91 per cent of these investments in the private sector.