The U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is set to award a $235 million grant to improve Armenia’s transportation and agricultural infrastructure. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who chairs the MCC board, is scheduled to speak at the signing ceremony March 27, the State Department said. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, and MCC Chief Executive Officer John Danilovich also are scheduled to make remarks at the compact’s signing. Danilovich approved the grant in December 2005 but also wrote a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian warning that the United States has concerns about the country’s respect for human rights and free elections following Armenia’s constitutional referendum in November 2005. The $235 million is scheduled to be awarded over several years; some of the grant money could be withheld if Armenia does not meet MCC goals of “sound policies and good governance.”
The Millennium Challenge agreement for Armenia aims to combat rural poverty through improving economic performance in the agricultural sector, according to the State Department’s announcement. The compact features two programs: a rural road rehabilitation project and an irrigated agriculture project. The compact is expected to affect 75 percent of Armenia’s rural population and to boost annual incomes of poor farmers.
