The European Union will invest 500 million euros to strengthen Armenia's energy security and diversification.
According to "Armenpress", this was stated by the EU High Commissioner for Enlargement Policy Marta Kos during a meeting with a group of Armenian journalists in Brussels.
A few days ago, a document was signed in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, by which Armenia receives support within the framework of the "Caucasus Power Grid" project to improve energy infrastructure, strengthen energy security and diversification, and reduce dependence on external actors. The European Union is cooperating with the German KfW bank in this regard.
"In Tashkent, we signed a document on a project worth 500 million euros. This is an investment of 500 million euros to connect your (ed. meaning Armenia's) power grid with the Georgian grid, and we are already working on the Armenia-Turkey power grid. Why, so that you become less and less dependent on energy from Russia? And this, you know, also comes from our experience. We now have special energy programs for Moldova, Ukraine, and also for us. For example, when the war started in 2022 (ed. refers to the Russian-Ukrainian war), Europe imported 60% of its gas, 50% of its coal, and, I think, 40% of its oil from Russia. Now coal is 0, oil is 0, and in the case of gas, we are slowly going down to 0, which is not always easy, as you also know," Kos detailed.
She added that she had asked the RA Minister of Transport and Communications, Davit Khudatyan, to present a list of priority programs to ensure overall connectivity. Martha Kos also expressed her willingness to help strengthen the RA Ministry of Transport and Communications' capacities so it can implement programs to ensure connectivity.
The goal of the Caucasus Power Grid project is to ensure reliable, flexible, and mutually beneficial cross-border energy exchange in the South Caucasus by synchronizing the power grids of Armenia and Georgia.
