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

Before discussing the agenda, the Prime Minister referred to the criminal proceedings instituted over the illegal adoption of children in Armenia. Investigation Committee Chairman Haik Grigoryan gave details of the proceedings.

Nikol Pashinyan noted that the high-profile story had provoked a fairly strong emotional response in society, but the investigators should be free of emotions in order to implement an in-depth probe into the matter at hand. “It is important to understand how this mechanism worked in the Republic of Armenia. There are doubts that it has been working for many years. A thorough investigation must be carried out to expose this case with all its metastases. I want to make such a confession. In many cases, the alarms sounded were inadequate that gave the impression of shards, but now as we look back, it seems that we were mistaken to think so, We should make sure that all doubts are dispelled in order to close this shameful page with all appropriate legal consequences,” the Premier said.

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s recommendation, the Government approved a bill on amendments to the RA law “On State Awards and Honorary Titles of the Republic of Armenia.” The draft law suggests establishing a monthly allowance for parents with 6 or more children and the Parental Glory Medal. The Government next decided to guarantee the right of children to live in family and get them back from 24-hour care facilities by provide for new alternative services for children.

The reference note says subsidies to four boarding schools will be suspended in 2020. It is proposed that the State budget be redistributed in order to include in the food and material assistance program those 260 children returned to biological families. The food and material assistance package consists of reimbursing the cost of electricity, clothes, shoes and a food basket for beneficiary children. The food basket contains rice, oil, vegetable oil, eggs, cheese, sugar, potatoes, meat, flour.

In connection with ongoing reforms in the healthcare sector, the Government amended one of its previous decisions. As a result, broader access will be allowed to State-guaranteed free or preferential medical services; flexible funding mechanisms will be set up to rule out the non-refundable instances and improve queue registration mechanisms. In particular, it is planned to revise the principles of reimbursement for individual programs under the healthcare item of the state budget and introduce the principle of unlimited budget with a contractual amount of financing.

The Government decided to appoint Styopa Safaryan to the post of Public Council Chairman. Nikol Pashinyan noted: “I am pleased with your readiness to accept the offer, but I think that you are assuming this position in rather a complicated situation, because the expediency of having a public council has been questioned ever since the very first day of its inception. The issue has long been discussed by both the opposition and government officials. In fact, your activity as Public Council Chairman will be a difficult mission, and this is the last chance for the Council to prove that it can be effective as an advisory body.”