YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The purpose of the program "Armenia: Raising the Energy and Gas Efficiency of City Heating and Hot Water Supply" is to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere through making reforms in the heating sector. The program was launched in July 2005 and is being implemented with a 3 mln-dollar grant allocated by the Global Ecological Fund. The RA Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Aivazian stated during the extended sitting of the program's management board that the 2005-2006 heating season showed that the heating system of Armenia is delapidated and there is a need to form a new system. According to him, the proposed approaches to restoration of the heating systems envisage the use of the combined thermal and electricity production stations which are preferable from the energy-saving and ecological points of view. The minister noted that according to estimations, it would be much cheaper to use thermal energy instead of gas. "In this way, both housing and social problems are dealt with," the minister said. The program's national coordinator Aram Gabrielian said that at the first stage of the program it is envisaged to restore the centralized heating systems in two communities of Yerevan - Avan and Davitashen. In his words, the Rambol consulting company (Denmark) is currently making a detailed technical and economic evaluation of the restoration work of these two communities' heating systems, with the results to be presented to the Armenian government and Yerevan Mayor's Office until late September. According to A. Gabrielian, in order to put the heating systems' restoration process on a stable basis, steps aimed at attracting new donors and financial resources are being taken. He said that EuroSibenergo-Engineering Ltd plans to invest about 12 mln USD during the implementation of the program's first stage.

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