A Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Before discussing the agenda issues, the Prime Minister came up with the following statement: “I have made a decision and applied to the President of the Republic of Armenia on relieving the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and transfer him to another position. I want to state that the decision was made in an atmosphere of mutual agreement. Today, a new Chief of General Staff will be appointed by the end of the day, and tomorrow the newly appointed Chief of General Staff will be introduced to the Armed Forces.”

Nikol Pashinyan asked Head of State Food Safety Service (SSDC) Ishkhan Karapetyan about the communications received from Rosselkhoznadzor on May 10 and 16, 2018, as well as on follow-up actions. Ishkhan Karapetyan said similar letters keep coming in on a regular basis, and that the issue had been discussed with the Russian counterparts. The Prime Minister told him to undertake steps to ensure that the export of agricultural products is carried out in strict compliance with the established standards.

“I hope this issue is being discussed for the last time. Exports should comply with strict requirements. The exports of agricultural products will be up in the near future; there is a specific problem associated with the farmers’ interests. I am hereby asking your service, the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Revenue Committee, all the departments responsible to ensure that agricultural products are exported in the natural mode. This is a priority that the government must solve,” the Prime Minister emphasized. At the same time, the Head of Government noted that it does not mean at all that farmers will have to face unnecessary barriers.

“The government and the ministries should help the farmers so that the latter could comply with the proposed conditions and requirements. We should provide speedy paperwork, without delays and obstacles. When we say that elementary rules should be observed, we do not mean that additional obstacles should be created for our farmers,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

Nikol Pashinyan next referred to the high risks faced in the field of metal mining. The Prime Minister instructed to conduct inspections with 28 entities engaged in metal mining in order to prevent the potential threats to people’s life, health, protect the environment and the population’s legitimate interests. The Premier told the central executive agencies to assist the inspection authorities with the implementation of inspections.

The Government adopted a decision “On Liquidating the Cancer Treatment Center CJSC” due to the change in the format of the establishment of the Radiation Treatment Center under the 2nd stage of the Armenian Oncology Excellence Center Program. As a result, a propitious environment will be created for attracting private investors.

In order to ensure unconditional enforcement of the rulings issued by the European Court of Human Rights and comply with the commitment undertaken by the Republic of Armenia before the Council of Europe, the Government made a relevant decision. Accordingly, money will be allocated to the Ministry of Justice for fulfilling the January 11, 2018 ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, referred to as “Arzumanyan vs. Armenia.” Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan stressed the need for further reforms in this field.

In this connection, the Head of Government said: “Reforms are indeed very important, but in the last 20 years, many reforms have been implemented in the judiciary, millions of dollars have been spent, but unfortunately the judicial system has not changed that much. I can state that we have already succeeded the most important reform overnight. It has been stated that Baghramyan-26, or any other government institution should no longer resort to illegal interferences in judicial proceedings. We must ensure that no judge makes a bribe-mediated decision.”

In conclusion, the meeting approved the State-funded full scholarships (free of charge) for full-time students, Master’s degree programs, as well as the quotas for post-graduate and doctoral programs at Armenia’s universities and scientific organizations for the 2018-2019 academic year.