BRUSSELS (Xinhua)-The European Commission has proposed to provide Armenia–Georgia and possibly Tajikistan–with aid of up to $262 million.
The aid will be in the form of long-term loans of $202 million combined with direct gran’s of $60 million–the commission said.
The present proposal to the European Union makes it possible for the commission to negotiate with beneficiary countries the terms and conditions attached to the new assistance package.
The aid will be fixed taking into account the countries’ financing needs consistent with their programs with the International Monetary Fund–the commission said.
Aid to Tajikistan is conditional on the adoption of an IMF- approved one-year economic program–supported by a stand-by agreement.
The loan component of the assistance will be funded via Community Market Borrowing and will be repayable over a 15-year period.
The grant component will be financed out of the general budget and will be paid in five annual installmen’s of $12 million starting this year.