Monday, 5 August 2013
PM Pays Working Visit To Ararat Marz
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan traveled to Ararat Marz for a working visit.
The first stop of the Prime Minister was at the kindergarten of Ayntap, which is being reconstructed on the instructions of the President of the Republic of Armenia. Tigran Sargsyan monitored the progress and got acquainted with the existing problems. The head of government told the Governor of Ararat Marz to implement landscaping work in the very short timeframe.
The project is co-funded by the Ararat Marz administration and Geopromining Ltd, which have invested AMD98mn and AMD90mn respectively, with the balance financed by the Armenian Social Investment Fund.
Leaving Ayntap for Nor-Kharberd, Tigran Sargsyan attended the opening of the recently rehabilitated primary healthcare center and reviewed the conditions in the renovated building. Supported by the World Bank, construction work was carried out from December, 2012 to June, 2013. As a result, around AMD51.3mn worth investment was implemented, of which 47 million for construction activities (the estimated cost is 60.5 million dram). AMD4.3mn was used to purchase medical equipment, furniture and accessories. The Primary Health Center serves about 6,000 residents of Nor-Kharberd community. The World Bank has funded the reconstruction of 13 dispensaries nationwide.
The Prime Minister next visited Ararat Group mineral water plant. To remind, the Government has twice assisted the company by extending the “temporary import” customs regime for all equipment imported under a lease facility. Tigran Sargsyan got acquainted with the ongoing preparations for the launch of the plant and the production capacity. Once commissioned, the plant will host some 250 jobs with an average salary of 120,000 drams. Standing for about USD27mn, the investment went into the following areas: buildings and structures - USD5mn, equipment - USD14m, current assets - USD7.9mn. The output capacity is about 30,000 bottles per hour, with nearly 70% due for export.
The Premier’s last port of call was at the Yerevan-Ararat Tranche-1 section of the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program. After getting acquainted with the ongoing activities, the head of government visited the concrete plant as founded by the Spanish Isolux Corsan Company, which won the open international competition for the reconstruction of Yerevan-Ashtarak, Ashtarak-Talin and Yerevan-Ararat road sections, where he learned firsthand the qualitative properties of concrete.
The North-South Road Corridor Investment Program is a major infrastructure program, the aim of which is to ensure communication between the south and north of the country by meeting high international standards of transport routes and provide access to international markets.
The program is supposed to provide effective transit roads in the region that will help facilitate and enhance both external and internal road traffic and trade. Started in 2009 and due to be completed by 2017, the road corridor will have a total length of 556km. The project provides for a concrete-coated four-lane highway allowing speeds of up to 100 km /h.
