Richard Mills: A small increase in US financial assistance to Armenia in 2018 shows the role that the White House pays to cooperation with Yerevan
ArmInfo.Some increase in US financial assistance to Armenia in the coming year indicates the role that the White House gives to cooperation with Yerevan. On October
12, US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills stated in Yerevan on the
fields celebrating the 25th anniversary of USAID activities in
Armenia.
He recalled that the decision to provide assistance each year is
taken separately and the amount differs from each other. "I would
like to note with pleasure that the amount of assistance that the
United States will provide to Armenia and USAID will be increased
next year, but I want to note that the United States has never
pursued the goal of maintaining the Organization permanently in
Armenia. Our goal is to help in the formation of such mechanisms ,
which would allow Armenia to independently struggle with the existing
problems and challenges in the future. Naturally, the needs of
Armenia 25 years ago and today radically differ, and from year to
year its needs are reduced, therefore, US funding and reduced over
time, but today we have the support of the US Congress and the White
House on the issue of implementation of projects in Armenia, as
evidenced by the increase in funding for the next year", said the US
diplomat.
At the same time, summing up the results of the Organization's
25-year activity in Armenia, the ambassador noted that the allocated
funds were spent effectively and the assistance was directed to the
implementation of priorities important for the Armenian people. At
the same time, Mills noted that he is proud of the fact that the main
USAID projects are implemented by local organizations. "This is due
to the fact that over the past 25 years, civil society and structures
have been formed in Armenia that can meet the needs of the people and
they have the capacity to implement the Organization's programs."
Armenia is among the leaders on this issue, but at the same time that
she can be proud of this achievement, Armenia should work with local
organizations to identify problems and transfer information about
this to us so that the allocated funds are directed to specific
tasks, "the ambassador said, and in this context added that the US is
listening to rlamentariev, government representatives, governors,
community leaders and citizens of Armenia should use these channels
for transmission of the issues and problems that are important for
channeling funds is in the bed. It should be noted that the
Appropriations Committee of the US Senate recommended increasing aid
to Armenia in the 2018 financial year to $ 20.7 million.
Appropriations Committee The US Senate in 2017 provided Armenia with
financial assistance of $ 24.1 million and Azerbaijan - $ 10.9
million. The Senate also recommended giving $ 1 million as military
assistance and another $ 600,000 for military training. In general,
the allocated assistance to Armenia was $ 3 million more than the US
President Barack Obama asked from the budget. The sum of assistance
to Artsakh, provided since 1998, remained unchanged. Recall that the
Committee on Appropriations of the US Senate in the financial year
2016 provided Armenia with financial assistance of $ 20.06 million,
as well as $ 1.7 million in military aid and $ 600,000 for military
training. For Azerbaijan and Georgia, US lawmakers proposed to
provide $ 8.778 million as a financial aid and $ 54 million,
respectively.