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

The Government will provide 167.954 million drams to regional administrations in Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Lori, Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor and Shirak marzes in addition to the grants already provided from the 2018 state budget of the Republic of Armenia. The reference note says that 173 out of 230 applications submitted by communities had been approved in first nine months of 2018. The grant programs are primarily intended for improvement of streets, parks, playgrounds, construction and renovation of community buildings, cultural centers, and kindergartens, as well as for construction and rehabilitation of drinking water networks, sanitation, irrigation and lighting systems.

The meeting approved the amended framework agreement between the Government of Armenia and ArmPower and Renco companies, which provides for the design, development, financing, construction, commissioning and maintenance of a 250 MW combined-cycle gas power plant in Yerevan. The reference note says that the tariff plan as specified in Annex 5 of the Framework Agreement had been reconsidered in the period from August to September 2018 at the request of the new government of the Republic of Armenia. The tariff provided for in the framework agreement signed in 2017 amounted to 6.02 cents, exclusive of VAT. The tariff, as set out in the current agreement, will be 5.7 cents.

In this connection, Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said: “The implementation of this project will be a positive message for international investors. 1,200 new jobs shall be provided under the project, which is also important.” Nikol Pashinyan noted that the Central Bank had some concerns about one of the clauses stipulated in the contract. As a result of continued negotiations, that controversial clause was withdrawn from the contract.

“Also, there was also a problem associated with deadline restrictions, and depending on whether we can meet the deadlines, in fact, the agreement will be signed or terminated. In order to definitely tackle this dilemma, we still have 5-6 days that we must use to clarify the latest nuances and discuss in all detail. The agreement will be signed only after the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and the Deputy Prime Minister report back the findings of said discussions and get my instruction. This is the context and condition of this decision,” the Acting Prime Minister said.

The Executive approved a number of bills, including a set of amendments to the Penitentiary Code, the Law on Arrested and Detained Persons and the Law on Identity Cards. The amendments are supposed to fully comply with the right of detained persons to private and family life.

The meeting approved the concept and a timetable for building an engineering town in Armenia. The Engineering Town’s main objective is to enhance economic competitiveness and productivity by promoting engineering and high technologies in Armenia.