A Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Before discussing the agenda issues, the Prime Minister said: “Later yesterday, we returned from Moscow where I was on a working visit. I wish to say that we had an effective visit, and we can state that the Armenian-Russian relations are developing dynamically and at a much better rate than usually predicted in Armenian and foreign media outlets. We can state that there are no problems in our relations, and our task is to tap the existing economic potential.

Of course, we will discuss my visit’s results with the relevant ministers, and there will be specific recommendations. At this point, I want to state that the government and the government-affiliated authorities should try to make a better use of the potential inherent in fruit and vegetables exports as they are in high demand on the Russian marketplace. Our Russian partners, too, hope for increased supplies. I expect that the proposed legislative changes will not have any negative impact on this process.”

The meeting approved the government’s proposal concerning the draft law on amending the RA Law on Police, which will be submitted to the National Assembly in the prescribed manner.

In this connection, Prime Minister Pashinyan noted that there are 3 types of portable video cameras: cameras installed in police cars, cameras applied on uniforms, and cameras built in video recorders. Valery Osipyan advised that the amended regulation refers to the cameras installed in police vehicles bearing distinctive badges.

The Premier noticed that there are contradictions in this issue. “On the one hand, we keep declaring that the number of fines and penalties should be minimized but, on the other hand, we are introducing new schemes and facilities for sanctioning the citizens. We have politically formulated and set ourselves the task to give up the practice of penalizing people anytime and everywhere; in the meantime, you are looking for new ways of sanctioning people. No, the use of such portable video cameras will not be authorized: let us give up the practice of hunting after the citizens. Maybe we will have to resort to a system of warnings. I am hereby asking and directing you to refrain from the idea of finding new ways of inflicting fines and penalties,” the Prime Minister said.

The meeting passed another decision, according to which Deputy Minister of Justice Artak Asatryan will fulfill the responsibilities of Armenia’s representative in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Justice Minister Artak Zeynalyan noted that this is a temporary appointment. As he said, a relevant bill is currently being drafted, which provides that Armenia’s representative in the ECHR will be appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice.

Avetik Eloyan was appointed to be Urban Development Committee Chairman. Under another decision, Aghvan Hovsepyan was relieved of the post of Chairman of RA Investigative Committee.