ARMENIA An Intelligence Report 03 08 15 21 A country in transition The Prime Minister’s Bold ambitions for harnessing Armenians abroad financing infrastructure master plan private investment crucial infrastructure September 2009 / www.infrastructureinvestor.com ABOUT PEI PEI is the leading financial information group dedicated to the alternative asset classes of infrastructure, private equity and real estate globally. Two things set PEI apart. The first is our global remit. The industries we cover are inherently international and resolutely cross-border, and can only be covered effectively by a publishing company that can connect with them in every market and in any time zone. That’s why PEI has offices in London, New York and Singapore, with a dedicated team in each location – allowing us to identify and analyse the market’s big picture trends. The second and most important difference is the quality of our news, insight and intelligence. Our market-leading publications include Infrastructure Investor and www.infrastructureinvestor.com. Our agenda-setting conferences attract the industry’s top players from across the world. Our library of books, directories and databases provide vital know-how and analysis on fundamental aspects of alternative assets. September 2009 / www.infrastructureinvestor.com Intelligence Report: Armenia Introduction 1 Armenia – a country in transition Welcome to Infrastructure Investor’s Intelligence Report on Armenia. It is designed to deliver a substantive overview of the Armenian economy and to provide those engaged in infrastructure development with a concise guide to the opportunities and challenges that exist. LIKE MANY FORMER member states of the Soviet Union, Armenia obstacle, despite the fact that these can be regarded as being more initially struggled to cope with its newfound independence in isolated and less as standard practice today. 1991. This profound social and political event was complicated by Despite such hurdles, there is widespread agreement that the legacy of a natural disaster that hit in 1988 when the country Armenia is in the process of becoming an increasingly interesting suffered a catastrophic earthquake. Add to this a bitter and long- market for private investors in, and developers of, infrastructure in lasting territorial dispute with Azerbaijan and a closed border with all segments of the asset class. Francesco Giustozzi, Armenian branch neighbouring Turkey and you begin to understand the challenges manager of Italian construction and engineering company Renco, that Armenia has had to face over the past two decades. In this whose infrastructure group has been involved in a number of projects context it is not surprising that the country’s GDP halved in the two in the country, says the Armenian government is clearly determined to years that followed independence and the country’s infrastructure transform the country’s infrastructure, and is providing a reliable base network buckled. for this in terms of consistent fiscal policies and regulation in order to Since then, however, Armenia has progressed considerably and encourage international companies to set up in the country. infrastructure has been at the heart of this development. In the Arguably the biggest question over how Armenia’s energy sector, for example, the country has almost literally moved infrastructure will evolve is political in nature. If the country can from darkness into light, advancing from little over two hours of somehow resolve, or at least improve upon, its differences with electricity supply per day during the worst period, to round-the- neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan, and if these borders reopen, clock provision today. it would go a very long way to improving trade and infrastructure While there is still much to be done with regard to the links in all three nations. While this will not be easy to achieve, country’s infrastructure, Armenia’s government has not been there is hope that it is attainable in the future. slow in grasping that one of the keys to effective and sustained Regardless of whether and when these cross-border disputes will development lies in having private capital participate. As be worked out, the government has made its domestic ambitions documented throughout the pages of this report, the government very clear: it sees infrastructure as the centre piece of its master plan has begun to embrace the public-private partnership (PPP) to continue to grow the economy, and to lay the foundations for a model. It has approved PPP-enabling legislation, and it is already prosperous future for the Armenian people. The country has matured beginning to reap the rewards as a result in a number of sectors. politically in recent years, and the government is staffed with a Just ask Zaruhi Furunjyan, a senior advisor at KPMG in Armenia credible line-up of senior decision-makers who share a well-articulated who has been involved in infrastructure schemes in the water and vision to carry their infrastructure plans through to completion. waste sectors in the country. She says: “Armenia has considerable This Intelligence Report documents this vision. On pages experience in implementing PPPs in the infrastructure sector. 8, 15 and 19, you will find on-the-record interviews with the key PPPs in Armenia can be found in almost all sectors, including government ministers who are driving the process. In addition, communication, railroads, electricity, gas and water supply and Infrastructure Investor’s journalists deliver their own analysis of airports, with assets being privatised or given under concession the nature and scope of the investment opportunities to be found agreements to foreign investors, with the government acting as in Armenia’s infrastructure projects. And for those interested contracting party and regulator.” in finding out more about the direction in which Armenian Challenges remain, of course. While acknowledging that the infrastructure development is going to be heading, key government quality of PPP regulation in Armenia has improved markedly contacts are included at the back of the report. Armenia is an in recent years, Furunjyan adds the proviso that the Armenian ambitious, emerging economy and the report hopefully delineates regulator’s “accountability and independence is still considered to what this means for all those engaged in the financing and be insufficient”. Others point to ongoing occurrences of graft as an development of a country’s infrastructure. 2 Contents September 09 ARMENIA An Intelligence Report Introduction 3 Report Editor: Chris Josselyn A country in transition +44 20 7566 4286 The role infrastructure investment is playing in Armenia’s efforts to modernise [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Keynote interview: the Prime Minister 8 Philip Borel View from the top +44 20 7566 5434 Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan talks about his plans for Armenia’s infrastructure evolution [email protected] Commercial Director: Infrastructure focus: energy 11 Matthew White Securing the country’s energy supply +44 20 7566 4280 What Armenia’s energy network needs, and what private sector investors can contribute [email protected] Design & Production Manager: Project note: IT infrastructure 14 Joshua Chong Broadband Armenia +44 20 7566 5433 The project being developed to enable better internet connectivity joshua.c@ peimedia.com Head of Design & Production: Keynote interview: the Minister of Economy 15 Tian Mullarkey The visionary +44 20 7566 5436 [email protected] Nerses Yeritsyan explains how the private sector can be harnessed to boost the country’s infrastructure Subscriptions & Reprints: Fran Hobson Infrastructure focus: transport 17 [email protected] +44 20 7566 5444 Building out the networks +1 212 645 1919 [Americas] The challenges facing Armenia in improving its road, rail and air links +65 6838 4536 [Asia] Sales and Marketing Director: Keynote interview: the Minister of Finance 19 Paul McLean Making the numbers work +44 20 7566 5456 Tigran Davtyan describes how Armenia will pay for its new infrastructure [email protected] Group Managing Director: Armenians abroad 21 Tim McLoughlin Tapping the Armenian Diaspora +44 20 7566 5276 How Armenians living outside the country are funding key infrastructure schemes [email protected] Co-founders: Infrastructure focus: social 22 Richard O’Donohoe Social infrastructure David Hawkins The schemes in the pipeline to boost Armenia’s education and healthcare sectors Sycamore House Sycamore Street Data File 23 London EC1Y 0SG Armenia’s key economic and financial indicators Tel: +44 20 7566 5444 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7566 5455 Intelligence Report: Armenia Introduction: A country in transition 3 The Caucasian tiger Investment in infrastructure is playing a central role in Armenia’s effort to modernise. THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA is a small landlocked nation situated head of the government. His government exercises executive power at the intersection of Europe and Asia. It is bordered by Georgia in Armenia with prime minister Tigran Sargsyan, who is not related to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Iran and the Azerbaijani to the president, nominated by parliamentary majority. exclave of Nakhchivan to the south, and Turkey to the west. Armenia’s supreme legislative authority is its elected national It has a mountainous topography covering an area of 29,800 square assembly. The last parliamentary elections took place in 2003. kilometres with a population of just over 3.2 million at the most Judicial power is administered solely by Armenia’s courts. recent estimate. Despite relative stability over the past year, the results of the Armenia is a full member of the Commonwealth of most recent presidential elections in February 2008 were disputed Independent States. It gained independence from the Soviet Union by former president and rival candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan. in 1991. The capital and largest conurbation, Yerevan, is located Violent protests ensued during which eight people were killed, on the Hrazdan River, less than 20 kilometres from the Turkish with a 20-day state of emergency declared to ease tensions. border along the west of the country.