Yerevan /Mediamax/. The issue of Armenia’s participation in the second compact of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) program is currently in the agenda of US-Armenia economic cooperation.

Information and Public Relations Department of the Armenian Government gave this answer to the inquiry from Mediamax.

“The issue was also discussed at the US-Armenia Task Force session co-chaired by Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielyan, on 7 October 2016 in Washington,” the answer states.

Answering the question on how much Armenia’s current scores comply with the requirements for the second application, the government replied:

“MCC selects countries that get the opportunity to participate in the corporation’s program, taking into account the scores of the given country. These scores are dynamic and relative, not only our absolute index counts but also our position compared with other countries. The corporation considers discussions on contracts only with the countries with above average indicators.”

The government stressed that Armenia attaches importance to the opportunity to partake in the second compact of the Millennium Challenge program.

MCC Program informed Mediamax that 2017 scorecards will be released soon, and in December MCC’s Board of Directors will select new partner countries.

“Armenia completed a five-year compact with MCC in 2011. The competition for subsequent compacts is very intense, and the standards for selection are higher than for first compacts. This is because MCC’s Board wants to see strong evidence of policy improvement, strong implementation capacity, and an appetite for reform,” MCC observed, stressing that Armenia is not currently eligible for the program, but MCC will discuss Armenia’s eligibility at the meeting in December.

Mediamax finds it worth noticing that total USD 177mln was spent in Armenia within the first compact of the program in 2006-2011, allocated for reduction of poverty in rural communities. In recent years Armenia applied for the second compact of the program but was rejected, as the corruption risk management indicator in Armenia was lower than the standard.

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was founded in 2004 by the US Government.