From October 18–30, 2026, the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity will be held at the “Meridian” Expo Center. At its session on September 11, 2025, the Government of Armenia approved the corresponding draft decision.
According to the decision, the Government of Armenia will sign a public procurement contract for the provision of services with “Meridian Holding” CJSC. The cost of the services will amount to 5,775.0 million AMD, to be provided as a one-time advance payment. Out of this amount, 3,000.0 million AMD will be the payment for services rendered by the Company during the period from September 2025 to December 31, 2026, while 2,775.0 million AMD will serve as a prepayment for event organization services over the following six years, for up to 200 days, based on requests by the Government of Armenia.
According to the rationale of the decision, a delegation headed by Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention, visited Yerevan on March 3–6, 2025. Within the framework of this visit, along with other COP 17 preparatory matters, the choice of the conference venue was also discussed. Based on Schomaker’s letter, the “Meridian” Expo Center best met the evaluation criteria for hosting COP 17. Renovation, construction, and improvement works (excluding furnishing) are planned for the premises, and solutions have been proposed for acquiring the services necessary for organizing COP 17 events.
According to the official document, the costs of organizing COP 17 events in Armenia at the “Meridian” Expo Center of “Meridian Holding” CJSC are preliminarily and approximately estimated at the equivalent of around 25 million USD. This figure was based on preliminary working files created using AutoCAD software and presented by a UN representative.
If the construction, renovation, building, and improvement works (excluding furnishing) are not completed within the allocated budget of 5,775.0 million AMD, “Meridian Holding” CJSC will apply to the Government of Armenia for a budgetary loan equivalent to 5 million USD, for a term of 6 years and 6 months, at an effective annual interest rate of 1%.
According to the justification, if the funds allocated in the previous phases prove insufficient to complete the works, “Meridian Holding” CJSC undertakes to invest up to an additional 5 million USD equivalent from its own financial resources to complete the works.
September 11, 2025 at 16:06