Armenia can no longer qualify for a multimillion-dollar U.S. aid program because of what the World Bank regards as growth in living standards in the country, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
The administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush launched the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) program in 2006 in an effort to reward developing nations committed to major reforms. Shortly afterwards Armenia received $177 million in MCA funding for the rehabilitation of its rural irrigation networks.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government agency running the aid scheme, also planned to allocate $60 million for the reconstruction of the country’s rural roads. But it scrapped that allocation shortly after a disputed 2008 presidential election that was followed by a government crackdown on the Armenian opposition.
Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s government tried unsuccessfully to get the MCA to unfreeze aid to Armenia. U.S. officials said, among other things, that it is not doing enough to combat widespread corruption.
The United States signaled its readiness to boost its economic assistance to Armenia following a democratic revolution that swept Nikol Pashinian and his allies to power in early May. U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills said in late May that Washington is now exploring possibilities of doing that, including the MCA.
Mirzoyan discussed the issue with U.S. officials when he visited Washington last week. He said he was told that Armenia is not eligible for MCA funding anymore because the World Bank recently upgraded its status from a “lower middle income” to an “upper middle income” country.
Mirzoyan said he suggested that the U.S. government consider other channels of financial support for the new authorities in Yerevan. “If we no longer meet MCA criteria, then I think it’s definitely possible to think about a new mechanism whereby the U.S. would provide assistance to democracy in Armenia,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Ambassador Mills said last week that Washington is still considering increasing assistance to Armenia. “We are looking at what is possible, including changes in levels of our funding through the USAID and other U.S. government agencies,” he told reporters.
Suren Sargsian, an Armenian political analyst, was skeptical about the Pashinian government’s chances of securing greater U.S. aid. “I consider that unlikely at least at this stage, under the Trump administration, because the Trump administration’s [international] priorities are a bit different,” he said.
Sargsian suggested that the situation might change if the Democratic Party gains control over the U.S. Congress in the November mid-term elections. Democratic lawmakers have traditionally been more supportive of causes championed by the Armenian-American lobby groups than their Republican colleagues.