A regular Cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The Government made amendments to one of the previously adopted decisions in order to increase the efficiency of the process of providing subsidies from the state budget aimed at the development of economic and social infrastructure of the communities of the Republic of Armenia. In particular, taking into account the number of settlements included in the communities of the Republic of Armenia and the different geographical locations of the mentioned settlements, it is proposed to determine the amount of state budget co-financing according to the percentage of geographical location of settlements in each program, excluding, for example, the application of the quota for high mountainous settlements in a community comprised of 8 settlements of which only one is mountainous, for the remaining 7 settlements. It is proposed to increase the share of co-financing of the state budget for the construction and renovation of kindergartens up to 80%. Highlighting also the development of farms, it is proposed to include the "Improvement of remote pasture roads" direction in the improved subsidy granting procedure. It is also proposed to include in the project "Construction and improvement of fiber-optic channel" in order to spread fiber-optic internet mainly in remote rural areas, including border areas.

The Government approved the draft law on making amendments to the “Law of the Republic of Armenia on State Duty". The amendment is conditioned by the need to simplify the process of exporting goods for SMEs. The draft envisages enabling economic entities not to pay customs duties for goods exported from the Republic of Armenia with a single transporter to a single receiver with a single transport document. The mentioned amendment is also aimed at simplification of the customs clearance process.

The Government approved the support measure for the reproductive health of the parents of servicemen who were killed or died while participating in combat operations in defense of the Republic of Armenia or during a combat duty on the line of contact with the adversary or while carrying out special mission. It is planned to make the medical care more effective by using the assisted reproductive technologies. As a result, it is expected that the beneficiaries will be provided with the opportunity for reimbursement of the cost of the donor egg or surrogate mother's service during the period of receiving medical assistance with the use of assisted reproductive technologies free of charge or on preferential terms. This will stimulate the latter to have the opportunity to give birth to a baby using assisted reproductive technologies.

The Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia Anahit Avanesyan noted that the availability of services in this direction is gradually increasing. According to the Minister, 27 of the mothers who lost their sons became pregnant in 2021. "I think this is a very symbolic fact with valuable and ideological sinificance. Once again, my homage and tribute to all the parents who made such a decision," the Prime Minister said.

Nikol Pashinyan also noted that the Armenian Government will consistently advance the agenda of opening an era of peaceful development for Armenia and the region. "Unfortunately, we continue to record incidents and casualties at the border. We have announced our policy and it is expressed in the Government's Action Plan. I said that one of the first tasks is to continuously increase the defense capacity of our country. But on the other hand, I have said that we need strong nerves to open the agenda of peaceful development for our country and the region, because many will constantly try to prove, show, push us to think that it is impossible. We will consistently move in this path, we must do everything to create a stable and secure environment around our country. This is our most important political task, particularly after the 2020 war and the 2021 early parliamentary elections. We will consistently push this agenda forward."

The Government made decisions to relieve Razmik Petrosyan of the post of Governor of Aragatsotn and Razmik Tevonyan of the post of Governor of Ararat. By another decision, Sedrak Tevonyan was appointed Governor of Ararat, and Sergey Movsisyan Governor of Aragatsotn.