A Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister touched upon the formation of the government.

“You know that a new government is being formed and, in parallel, we are discussing issues related to the structure of the government. Under the applicable law, the government is not considered formed unless 2/3 of Cabinet members have been appointed. We will go that way, 2/3 of government members will be appointed, 1/3 will not be appointed unless the final details have been clarified about the government’s composition and structural changes. One thing is obvious: the number of ministries will be reduced, and this process should be implemented as smoothly as possible and in a predictable way,” Nikol Pashinyan pointed out, adding that a road map will be developed to that effect.

The Government has adopted a relevant decision in order to ensure a satisfactory level of social protection for families registered in the Vulnerability Assessment System. Accordingly, the aforementioned individuals will not be deprived of the right to get family or welfare benefits due to the increase in allowances.

The Executive approved the Direct Agreement to be signed under the framework arrangement concluded between the Government of the Republic of Armenia, ArmPower CJSC and Renco SA. USD 250 million will be invested in the project. The construction activities will be complete within 26 months, with 1000-1200 people involved. 200-230 high-paid jobs will be available during the plant’s exploitation.

In an effort to promote the use of electric motors aimed at reducing air pollution, the meeting next approved the Government’s legislative initiative on making draft amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia. The bill provides that the imports of vehicles with electric motors shall be included in the list of transactions and operations exempt from value added tax as defined in Article 64 of the Tax Code. The arrangement will be effective until 2022.

The Government approved the concept of introducing water saving technologies and the program of measures arising therefrom. The concept sets out the areas, goals and objectives, solutions and advantages for introducing water saving technologies, as well as those measures aimed at achieving the proposed objectives.