Repayment of external debt by nature protection
Today, Artsvik Minasyan, Nature Protection Minister, met with Eco Media Network journalists, answering their questions in the Jrvezh Forest Park. The Minister spoke about the implemented and planned programs. In particular, she spoke about a project called "Nature-Foreign Debt", in which the Ministry of Finance has direct involvement. "We have already met with the WB. The essence is that Armenia has external debt to some countries which, in turn, have an international obligation of being engaged in environmental programs. Our suggestion is that instead of paying debts to those countries, we should invest the sum in our environmental improvement program. These countries should agree to the investment, thus considering the debt paid back. What is their interest? They have about a dozen international commitments as developed or large-scale countries, starting from the climate change, maintaining biodiversity, and so on. In other words, these countries need to make their payments to international funds, from which redistribution to the developing countries takes place. We propose to immediately work with these countries, excluding the entire circulation. Our proposal is beneficial to both sides." The Minister said that in order to persuade those countries to participate in this program, we must choose the right direction of the environment, which will be imports of tenenology, raw materials and services from these countries. "I will mention the Russian Federation, as a simple example. Today we have a problem of timber, as a result of which pressure is great on our forests. If we succeed in importing wood from Russia through this system at cost price or at a lower cost, means that we will reduce the pressure on the forests in Armenia. Also, as we have undertaken a commitment that by 2050 we should the country's increase forest areas with 20% , then we should implement new forest founding projects; this program could be a good prerequisite." Countries that we owe and are viewed within the framework of the project "Nature-Foreign Debt" are Japan, Germany, Russia, USA and France. Untill 2050, Armenia owes these countrys $570 million. "Until mid-October, the WB will launch its pre-program activities outside the country, and then we will start bilateral negotiations with the countries. This program is unprecedented. There is an experience in the world, but it has come from one direction when the country had an external debt, was on the edge of the default, only then turned to such a program. We do not have that problem today, from the point of view of the external debt, we are not considered to be such a country; that's why we are unprecedented. It contains some risk: international organizations can see a problem, so we say that our task is not to reduce external debt, but to improve the environment; external debt repayment will only be the consequence of the enviromental improvement."
