BLACK SEA DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY

Promoter – Financial Intermediary

Not disclosed.

Location

• Armenia
• Georgia

Description

The project concerns the construction and deployment of a submarine cable system in the black sea interconnecting Europe with the Caucasus (Poti, Georgia) and then Armenia through an existing terrestrial infrastructure to be upgraded. The system will be operated on an open access basis , subject to local regulations, it will have a total length of 1 163km.

Objectives

The main objective of the project is to provide connectivity between Europe and South Caucasus with higher quality of service (lower latency) and high capacity.

Sector(s)

• Telecom - Information and communication

Proposed EIB finance (Approximate amount)

EUR 20 million

Total cost (Approximate amount)

EUR 45 million

Environmental aspects

In general, the deployment of telecommunication infrastructures have limited environmental effects, apart from minor disturbances during construction, which can be properly mitigated by applying industry-standard measures. For the specific case of submarine cables, the cable landings are usually subject to environmental studies for their approval. This can vary depending on the jurisdiction. As per the assessment performed within the EU, where and if applicable, the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (EIA) 2011/92/EU as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU, Birds Directive 2009/147/EC and Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC or the equivalent national regulation will be verified during appraisal.

Procurement

The Bank will require the promoter to ensure that implementation of the project will be done in accordance with the Bank's Guide to Procurement and the relevant applicable EU public procurement rules.

Status

Under appraisal - 4/08/2022