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

The meeting amended the government decision of May 5, 2011 On Enforcing the RA Law on State Pensions. In particular, as of January 1, 2018, income tax shall be substituted with profit tax in the provisions of the law relating to the pension rights of self-employed persons and notaries. A procedure has been established for granting a pension or paying the unpaid pension to persons disabled due injuries had while performing a military duty or in the exercise of special assignments during defense operations.

The amendment stipulates that a written application for the appointment of his or her pension and other documents may be submitted through a proxy if a disabled person is treated at a hospital located in a foreign country. It has been established that the period during which the citizen of the Republic of Armenia was in labor relations with an international organization shall be included in the record of service, if pension payments have been made to the State budget in cases stipulated by law.

It has also been established that when filing a request for pension recalculation, the pensioner only submits an application for recording the period of employment in his / her working experience; the requirement to submit a certificate of employment has been abolished. The right to receiving a pension when it has not been paid for five consecutive years will not be suspended. Those persons who have adopted a child living in an orphanage shall get the total amount of pension arrears accumulated during the child’s stay in the orphanage.

Highlighting the importance to the new regulations envisaged in this sphere, Nikol Pashinyan told those responsible to provide proper media coverage of the proposed amendments so that citizens could be aware of the opportunities created

The Government adopted a decision on granting property, proceeding from the need to ensure further use of veterinary equipment, farm machinery, agricultural inputs and built-in irrigation systems as purchased under the Community Agricultural Resources Management and Competitiveness Program and the Second Program’s loan agreements.

By this decision, the veterinary equipment and tools so purchased shall be donated to the Agribusiness and Rural Development Center. The latter will hand over the property for free use to selected veterinary surgeons in communities in accordance with the requirements of the agreement. The irrigation systems will be donated to the selected communities, while the farm machinery will be provided to the relevant pasture user’s cooperatives.

As a result, at least 20 veterinarians will have modern veterinary equipment and tools, 12 communities will be provided with irrigation systems, 19 consumer cooperatives will get free agricultural equipment.

With reference to the provision of veterinary services, the Head of Government noted that it is necessary to outsource them to private entities.

“We need to set up veterinary centers in the regions in order to provide adequate technical and professional assistance. We need to implement state programs through these centers, because now we have two methods to work together. Excuse me for this formulation but I should state that we have one functional veterinary medicine and state-administered veterinary services with all its adverse consequences. We need to strengthen these two structures as a strategic goal. State services should be outsourced. This is a kind of financial support, and I believe that even if we do not manage to raise the cost of such services, we will a least have the opportunity to improve their quality by this method,” the Premier said.

Under relevant decisions, a number of companies will benefit from the VAT deferment facility and an exemption of customs duties for a period of three years.