YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, NOYAN TAPAN. For the RA Ministry of Economy, 2009 was marked by the development of priority policies, the initiation of large-scale programs and the start of processes aimed at capacity development. Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsian stated this during the presentation of the 2009 report to the Armenian prime minister on January 20. In his words, with the aim of mitigating the impact of the global crisis on Armenia and preventing the possible social tension, complex measures were taken for efficient use of resources, and resources of donor organizations were mobilized. The minister underlined that loans of $700 million were attracted under programs on cooperation with the World Bank in order to help the priority branches of the economy withstand the crisis and to create prerequisites for long-term development. A package of $60 million credit resources to assist the development policy was formed as part of the partnership policy, and the package was of importance in terms of fulfillment of state social obligations. Cooperation with the IMF allowed to inject $500 million into the economy, preventing fiscal and monetary shocks in the country. Foundations for large-scale cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) were laid. Under the assistance program aimed at overcoming the crisis, budget support of $80 million was provided for rehabilitation of the earthquake zone and implementation of the budget-financed social projects. Besides, an agreement on $100 million budget support was reached through continued negotiations with the EU. N. Yeritsian said that an unprecedented infrastructure-related program began in Armenia. ADB assumed an obligation to provide concession loans of $60 million for the first stage of the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program. Assistance was provided to real sector within the framework of anti-crisis policy, in particular an amendment was made to the law on VAT, by which VAT payments are deferred for 3 years for import of goods over 300 million drams considered as investment, as well as for import of goods under investment programs approved by the government. An operative staff was established to discuss business plans submitted by private businessmen and to determine the form of assistance to them. The staff examined about 300 business plans, of which 24 projects of the total cost of 14.1 billion drams were approved. According to N. Yeritsian, the ministry also carried out consistent work on capacity building and governance improvement necessary for current reforms. N. Yeritsian said the ministry took serious steps on the implementation of the strategy of industrial policy, the creation of infrastructure necessary for forming an information society in Armenia, and ensuring access to instruments of the European Neighborhood Policy. Special attention was paid to the creation of an assessment system in line with international standards, the formation and strengthening of Armenia's image as a tourism country, and to the introduction of a system for the Sustainable Development Program's implementation.

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