EU to continue support to Eastern Partnership member countries in energy sector
Cooperation with Armenia in energy sector is very important for the European Union, the head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, ambassador Peter Switalski said today at a meeting with Armenian energy and natural resources minister Levon Yolyan.
The ministry quoted Switalski as saying that after the completion of the EU-funded Inogate program, the EU will continue the assistance to Eastern Partnership member countries, including Armenia.
He said to this end, on March 17 Brussels will host a meeting at the highest level in the energy sector with the participation of representatives of the European Commission and Eastern Partnership member countries.
Yolyan was said to have thanked Switalski for the support provided by the EU in the energy sector. In the context of regional co-operation the two men underscored the importance of the construction of a high voltage transmission line from Armenia to Georgia, supported by an EU 10 million euro grant.
Inogate was founded in 1996 and is the longest running EU-funded program. As it is ending in 2016, the European Commission decided to continue assistance in the energy sector to Eastern Partnership member countries through the European Energy Community and the International Energy Agency.
The European Energy Community was founded in 2005. Its members are the EU, represented by the European Commission, and the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo , Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine. Armenia has had the status of observer since 2011. -0-