YEREVAN, November 7. /ARKA/. The government of Armenia has approved today a proposal to sign an agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB), where EIB will provide the government with an investment grant to be used to raise the safety on the roads.

Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Vache Terteryan said the EIB grant is 4.2 million euros.

"The main goal of the program is to ensure road safety along the M6 ​​highway, running to the north of the country and also some roads running to the south," Terteryan said.

He said the money will be used to install special safety equipment on the roads, which is supposed to help cut the rate of accidents.

According to official data, the number of traffic accidents in Armenia in the first nine months of 2019 surged by almost 18 percent year-on-year to 3,442. Some d 252 people died in road accidents during that time span, which was 2.9% higher than the number of deaths in the same time span of 2018. In September alone, 33 people died in road accidents, which was 10% higher than in August.

Some 4,961 people were injured in road accidents in 9 months, a 16.0% rise when compared to the same period last year. In September alone, 708 people were injured in rod accidents, which was 10.3% more than in August. -0-