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

Before starting the discussion of the issue on the agenda, the Prime Minister referred to the activities of the Patrol Police. "After the non-violent, velvet, popular revolution of 2018, the establishment of a democratic rule of law in Armenia was a fundamental issue for us. And on that path, one of the most important reforms we planned in 2018 was the establishment of the Patrol Police. It’s already over 6 months that the Patrol Police has been operating in Armenia, and a very positive atmosphere has been created around it. During our last working meeting with the Chief of Police of the Republic of Armenia, we summarized the results of our work."

The Prime Minister presented the results of the Patrol Service in Yerevan from July 2021 to January of the current year with the results of the Traffic Police in the same period of the previous year. “Definitely, our positive reaction is not about that so many fines have been imposed on our citizens. The positive response is about that we believe that a certain institution of law and order, an institution of respect for the law has been established," the Prime Minister said. It was also mentioned that the Patrol Police Service will be introduced also in Shirak and Lori Provinces in the near future. "I would also like to praise the work done to establish the Patrol Police. The process is going on, in the near future we will have Patrol Police in Shirak and Lori Provinces. It should be noted that the process is not smooth, starting from the complications in the procurement process, ending with the fact that there are problems in the car market. But we will move forward consistently. And I want to thank our international partners who have supported the process, in particular, the European Union and the US Government. I hope we will successfully complete this process."

The Government made amendment in one of its previous decisions to bring the current level of remuneration for diplomats serving abroad in line with the minimum living standards for different countries. According to Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, the amount of remuneration has not changed since 2014. "Meanwhile, due to political, economic, financial and other factors, we now have a situation where the remuneration we provide in many countries does not even correspond to the minimum costs required in that country and the living standards," the Minister said. The accuracy/approach of the "national index" calculations defined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been checked and approved by the representative of the UN International Civil Service Commission.

The Government amended one of its previous decisions to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Accordingly, it is proposed to regulate the process of visits, regular leaves and vacations of servicemen in the Armed Forces of Armenia for the purpose of prevention and non-spread of coronavirus. In particular, visits to penitentiaries are prohibited if the detainee and the visitor have not been fully vaccinated in the prescribed doses or, in the case of a single-dose vaccine, 28 days after vaccination have not passed, and in the case of more than one dose vaccine, less than 14 days after receiving the last dose have passed.

The Government approved the draft laws "On Making Amendments to the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia" and "On Making Amendments to the Law on State Border". Accordingly, it is envisaged to enable the lessor-lessee to define in the leasing agreement the right or ban to cross the state border by the vehicle being the subject of the lease. The main purpose of the bills is to ensure the returnability of the leased vehicles. Thus, the possible problems related to the border crossing of the vehicles that are the subject of leasing without the consent of the lessor will be prevented, ensuring the returnability of the subject of the lease.