The Armenian authorities will receive an additional loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build 50 earthquake-resistant schools. The corresponding loan agreement was approved at Thursday’s Cabinet session of the government.

According to Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Zhanna Andreasyan, the previous agreement signed in 2016—also with ADB—envisages the construction or major renovation of 46 schools in Armenia. Thirty of them have already been built, and 16 will be completed by the end of the year.

The new loan, for 50 schools, will amount to $293 million. The loan will be provided for a period of up to 27 years, 10 of which will be preferential.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted in this regard that the situation with the construction and modernization of schools in Armenia is generally satisfactory. He promised to visit all schools in the country, especially those that are under construction.

Pashinyan added that the Armenian government should add another 300 schools in the coming five years to the 300 that will be built and renovated by the end of the year.