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

The Government decided that the state of emergency, which was declared on March 16 and extended until May 14, should be extended for 30 days up till June 13, 2020, 17:00 local time.

According to Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan, some restrictions, for instance, people’s free movement, financial and economic activities can be exercised under specific conditions. The Minister noted that the restrictions applied in prisons and places of detention have been eased. In particular, inmates will be allowed to send and receive parcels once a week.

Prime Minister Pashinyan advised that the Government had approved the 18th anti-crisis action, which affects companies with up to 100 employees. “The government will pay salaries to every fifth employee for those employers and companies that have saved their jobs and the payroll during the crisis,” the Prime Minister said.

The Premier noted that over AMD 76 billion has been distributed as part of the ongoing anti-crisis policy, and about 26 thousand legal entities and more than 1 million 100 thousand individuals have become beneficiaries.

The meeting passed a decision on road-building activities in 2020. The Government is set to repair up to 500 km-long roads and road sections. The length of roads being repaired at this stage is 185.33 km. 17.4 billion drams will be earmarked to this end.

Nikol Pashinyan next referred to the capital construction programs planned for this year - the design and construction of 100 cultural, sporting, healthcare and educational facilities, noting that tenders for said 100 projects should be held by this September.

The Government went on to approve the State Housing Support Program for families with one or more children for 2020-2023. Program beneficiaries will be able to combine mortgage repayment with childcare, which is supposed to boost the birthrate in families paying mortgage loans. There are three targeted programs: lump-sum financial assistance for the purchase of housing in regional settlements, financial assistance to young families for pre-paid insurance and assistance in connection with the birth of a child in families facing mortgage loan liabilities.

The 2020 State budget provides 526,760 thousand drams for targeted programs. In particular, 245 lump-sum support facilities, 540 pre-paid insurance arrangements, as well as childbirth-related assistance will be offered to 300 beneficiaries in 2020.