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

The government approved the annual report on the implementation of the state budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2020, which will be submitted to the National Assembly in accordance with the established procedure. According to the report, the State budget amounted to 1,560,655,340.8 thousand drams in terms of revenue 1,894,647,093.4 thousand drams - in terms of expenditure, while the budget deficit stood at 333,991,752.6 thousand drams in 2020.

Presenting the report, Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan referred to the economic indicators of 2019, noting that Armenia boasted a period of growth in 2019. The economy grew by 7.6%, which made it possible for the government to change the volume of financial commitments. The Minister stressed that owing to the economic growth of 2019, the government reconsidered its expenditure policy in 2020, with about 11% growth recorded in the sphere of education, science, culture and sports, and a 22% growth - in the sphere of healthcare.

In that context, the Premier evoked the manipulations over the funds transferred by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund: “You may know that there were speculations about the government having allegedly used these funds for paying bonuses and so on. I would like to call your attention to the fact that the government spent as much as 120 billion drams during the martial law. Of these 120 billion, only 52 billion was allocated from the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, that is, less than 50% of expenses. I would also like to stress that recently, on March 15, I presented a breakdown of expenses at the meeting of the Fund’s Board of Trustees, after which the Board of Trustees issued a statement and expressed confidence that the funds collected during the war had been used purposefully. This is an established fact. Of course, I wish to thank the donors and call attention to another important fact. From 1992 to September 2020, USD 247 million was raised through the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. That is, donations worth USD 247 million had been collected with a view to implementing development programs in Armenia and Artsakh in the past 28 years. While USD 212 million was raised during the 44-day war alone which makes nearly 70% of the amount raised in 28 years.”

Nikol Pashinyan said that over the next 3 years the Hayastan All Armenian Fund will implement infrastructure and housing programs worth AMD 110 billion in Artsakh: “A major rehabilitation program will be implemented in Artsakh within 3 years, which is the largest ever program implemented over 29 years since the launch of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund.” The Prime Minister noted that the expenses related to the martial law will be presented in detail during the presentation of the budget performance report to the National Assembly.

The meeting next approved the Agreement on Assistance to the Government of Artsakh. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mesrop Arakelyan pointed out that 10 billion drams will be provided annually to the Government of Artsakh over 10 years to deal with the aftermath of the war.

“In particular, compensation is to be made available to those legal entities and individuals who lost buildings, real assets of public and industrial importance, cars and trucks, agricultural and construction equipment, fixed assets used in entrepreneurship, cattle, apiaries, fruit gardens and vineyards during the hostilities,” Mesrop Arakelyan said.

According to another decision passed by the government, funds will be allocated from the state budget to the government of the Republic of Artsakh to subsidize utility payments, as well as to ensure the return of income tax from the salaries of employees of resident and non-governmental organizations.

Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan advised that Armenia has already provided Artsakh with AMD 74 billion-worth support under the assistance programs implemented during and following the war.