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

The Government established a procedure and the rates of financial support for the families of those servicemen killed (deceased) in the exercise of combat duties or during army service. The arrangement specifies the reimbursement procedure for State-budget-funded costs of burial, processing and installation of gravestones, as well as the terms and the amounts of lump-sum allowances provided to former servicemen eligible for disability pensions and to the families of killed (deceased) servicemen. The decision will thereby streamline the process of providing financial support to eligible persons in accordance with the law “On Servicemen’s Status.”

Nikol Pashinyan made a statement on amending the RA law “On compensation of damage caused to servicemen’s life or health during the defense of the Republic of Armenia.” “The previous arrangement covered those servicemen who have been killed or disabled after January 1, 2017. We discussed and reviewed the matter with the Defense Ministry and found out that there is an opportunity to take the prescribed date back for two years. Accordingly, the new arrangement will cover the incidents that occurred after January 1, 2015,” the Premier said, noting that the families of those killed during the April war and the war veterans will henceforth be considered as program beneficiaries.

Addressing the Head of State Revenue Committee David Ananyan, the Prime Minister said there were well-known business entities that had failed to make payments to the Fund or had arrears. “I will give you the names of such companies. We call on all companies to comply with their commitments, considering that the Fund should keep growing in order to cover the families of those killed or injured earlier,” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized.

The Government adopted a relevant decision to deal with the problems that have emerged following the entry into force of those legal acts governing the customs relationships within the Eurasian Economic Union. Thereby, changes have been made to the previously adopted decision regarding the taxable bases for goods exceeding the prescribed quotas, the standards applicable to notifications sent to natural persons, including the reference to the law and other provisions, as well as the full revision of commodity quotas.

The reference note says that a number of problems have emerged during the enforcement of the law, and it is necessary to reconsider the procedure for assessing the value of goods when importing them from EAEU-member States, as well as the FEACN codes of goods and some measurement units.

SRC Chairman David Ananyan noted that according to this decision, natural persons will be able to import much larger volumes of goods into Armenia without customs clearance.

“This decision will have a positive economic impact,” the Prime Minister noted, adding that it would give citizens the opportunity to make cheaper trade. Nikol Pashinyan urged those responsible to properly inform the public about the rise in quantities. “The SRC should publish the previous and current lists of quotas in order to inform the citizens about the new arrangement’s entry into force,” the Prime Minister underscored.

The adopted a number of decisions on granting privileges to a group of companies. In this context, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that some concerns have been voiced recently by businesses about the Government’s economic targets.

“On the contrary, we are looking forth to a positive impact on business. We can state some activity in construction and the real estate market, and our policy is to promote that activity. That is why, to tackle this problem we score twice before we cut once in making economic decisions,” the Head of Government said.

Nichol Pashinyan noted with satisfaction that according to NSS data, a very high index of economic activity has been recorded in Armenia. “These are positive figures, especially considering that the economy and economic activity are supposed to decline following political changes. Nevertheless, I believe that our revolution has an important distinctive feature in this case,” the Premier said. According to NSS data, 9.6% economic activity index was recorded in June.

“The Government of the Republic of Armenia guarantees the security of investments, which means that no legitimate investment, that is investment with no trace of illegal transactions, may be at risk in any way,” the Prime Minister underscored.

In conclusion, the Government decided to appoint Sarhat Petrosyan to the post of Head of Real Estate Cadastre Committee.