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Armenia's new legislation to attract private finance for Public-Private Partnerships projects

Yerevan PPP graphic

Armenia has been a pioneer in the use of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) model in the Caucasus to improve its infrastructure and public services. In 2000, nine years since its independence, it concluded its first wave of water concession agreements for the provision of drinking water and wastewater services for the whole country. The lessons learned from these early projects translated into an improved legal and regulatory framework, with a new PPP law enacted in June 2019 and further revised in June 2021 to attract private finance in sectors such as transportation, waste management, renewable energy and healthcare. 

The Armenian Government is committed to upgrading its public infrastructure through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), and in doing so it will ensure sustainable outcomes which are critical to the SDGs, as well as the country's wider economic, environmental and social goals, said Mr Vahan Kerobyan, Minister of Economy of Armenia at the opening of the PPP Conference in Yerevan on 19 October 2022, co-organised with UNECE.

Attended by over 100 participants from national PPP authorities, the conference focused on practical ways to design PPP and infrastructure projects that are aligned with the SDGs, and that go beyond the traditional “value for money” and provide “value for people” and “value for the planet”.

Increasing the capacity of public officials remains one of the key challenges to PPPs in Armenia. Through its new PPP Evaluation Methodology for the SDGs, UNECE plans to train public officials to significantly increase the predictability of project delivery and to ensure that the next generation of PPPs in Armenia are sustainable and contribute to the country’s SDG objectives.

The relevance and impact of UNECE’s PPP capacity building in Armenia and in other countries in the region will be reviewed at the forthcoming session of the Working Party on PPPs on 1-2 December 2022.

Countries: Armenia

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