Yerevan to secure $250m loan to provide housing for Karabakh Armenians
$250m loan for housing Karabakh Armenians
Armenia will take a $250 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to fund a government programme providing housing for families displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.
The programme has been running since 2024. In 2025, the government allocated 65 billion drams ($171 million) for its implementation. According to Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs David Khachatryan, spending on the programme will exceed 40 billion drams ($105 million) in 2025.
In September 2023, after ten months of a humanitarian blockade by Azerbaijan followed by military actions, nearly 120,000 Armenians had to leave their homeland. So far, 26,233 people from Karabakh have received Armenian citizenship. This is a mandatory requirement for accessing government assistance under the programme.
“The number of applicants whose citizenship requests are still under consideration stands at 6,696,” David Khachatryan said.
- Pashinyan urges Baku to drop issue of return of Karabakh Armenians and ‘Western Azerbaijan’
- Armenia-Azerbaijan talks: documents on Karabakh settlement released
- Armenian society kept in dark over Karabakh war defeat: opposition and experts react
An attempt at “socio-economic integration of refugees”
“The aim of the programme is to create a sustainable, viable, and inclusive housing system in Armenia. It is essential for the socio-economic integration and welfare of families displaced from Karabakh. The project focuses on the long-term development of housing policy and the improvement of its implementation processes,” said Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs David Khachatryan.
He added that the programme will be funded not only with the loan from the Asian Development Bank. The Global Fund for Concessional Financing will contribute an additional $16.45 million.
Under the law adopted by parliament, the deadline for disbursing the funds is 31 December 2030. The Armenian government must repay the loan over 27 years, with the first ten years designated as a “grace period.”
3,810 families have received certificates, and 1,631 families have already purchased housing.
As part of the government housing assistance programme, displaced families from Karabakh have been receiving certificates to purchase housing since 2024.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the project will provide homes for around 25,000 families. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the initiative is an investment project valued at about $2 billion.
Assistance is calculated per family member, with each receiving between three and five million drams ($7,800–13,000). The exact amount depends on the location chosen by the family.
“So far, 3,810 families have applied and received certificates to purchase housing, and 1,631 of them have already done so,” said Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs David Khachatryan.
The government plans to use the funds from the Asian Development Bank to provide a long-term solution to the housing needs of 109,000 refugees of Armenian ethnicity.
$250m loan for housing Karabakh Armenians