Foundation stone-laying ceremony of Bagratasen checkpoint held

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan participated today in the foundation stone laying ceremony of Bagratashen checkpoint where construction work is being done under the UNDP-funded program on upgrading of Bagratashen, Bavra, and Gogavan checkpoints of Armenia’s state border.

The ceremony was attended by Chairman of the RA State Revenue Committee Gagik Khachatrian, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Ambassador Traian Hristea, UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Bradley Busetto, representatives of other local and international structures. SRC Chairman Gagik Khachatrian told reporters that the three checkpoints’ construction which is a ‘pivot of our reform programs’, starts today.

In his, upon completion of construction work, we will have modern checkpoints equipped with state-of-art inspection equipment. As regards corruption risks at checkpoints, he noted that risks will be minimal as human intervention will be minimized.

The government received a loan of 30 million 316 thousand euro from the European Investment Bank to upgrade infrastructure of the checkpoints and a loan of 10 million 293 thousand euro from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the construction of a bridge linking Armenia with Georgia in Bagratashen. In addition, a 12 million euro grant was provided by the European Commission’s Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument Fund and a 3 million euro grant was received under a program financed the EU Eastern Partnership Program.