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

The Government has made changes in one of its previous decisions aimed at alleviating the existing COVID-19 restrictions, proposing to lift the restrictions on entry into the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Accordingly, taking into account the international experience and the fact that a number of countries have already eased the restrictions on entry into the country, the requirement for having a PCR certificate confirming the negative result taken within the previous 72 hours upon arrival to Armenia through air or border crossing points will be abolished. The decision will take effect on May 1. The Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan noted that starting from May 1, the requirement to submit a PCR rapid test or vaccination certificate upon entering the checkpoints or airports will be also removed. "Restrictions in penitentiaries, the armed forces when going on holiday or during visits has been removed. In these cases, too, there will be no requirement to take a test or present a vaccination certificate. The requirement on keeping a distance of 1.5 meters during events in schools, kindergartens and other places has been lifted. The requirement to submit a PCR test at the workplace every 7 days or to submit a coronavirus vaccination certificate has also been removed," said Anahit Avanesyan.

Nikol Pashinyan made several emphases in that context. "Yes, for a long time now the numbers of the coronavirus have been such that the situation does not receive public or political attention except from the Ministry of Health. But I want to ask, urge, urge all of us not to weaken our vigilance, because today there are cities in China that live in a lockdown. But I want to ask, urge all of us not to weaken our vigilance, because right today there are cities in China that live in a lockdown. Of course, this is done, so to speak, to deliver the final blow to the pandemic, but no one can say what will happen next. In this regard, I would like to emphasize the need for continuing the vaccination process. By the way, given that we have a wide selection of vaccines and quite large stocks, we have opened the opportunity of vaccination for foreign nationals for a long time. In other words, any foreign citizen can be vaccinated in Armenia without any restrictions. In the past, we set some restrictions, emphasizing the need to stay in Armenia for at least some time, and so on. There are no restrictions now. I think in terms of the start of the tourist season, it is very important to present this in a relevant way through also tour agencies."

The Government approved the procedure for voluntary attestation of teachers, the provision of a supplement to teachers’ rate as a result of voluntary attestation, the formation of the voluntary attestation commission. According to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan, the rate of a teacher receiving a surcharge as a result of voluntary certification will be set at 200,000 AMD. According to him, in case of additional payment, or receiving a special class, the teacher's salary can reach up to 400,000 AMD.

Nikol Pashinyan attached importance to the decision, noting that reforms in the field of general education since 2018 have been one of the priorities of the Government and will always remain a priority. In this context, the Prime Minister considered the remuneration of teachers and the competitiveness of the teacher's work to be one of the priority issues. The Prime Minister stressed that all teachers will be given the opportunity to benefit from that system several times, but from the moment X, a teacher who has not been certified will simply not work at the school.

At today's Cabinet meeting, Nikol Pashinyan announced the start of the construction phase of Ajapnyak subway station. "You know that the issue of building the Ajapnyak subway station in the capital Yerevan has been long discussed. This issue was included in our pre-election program in 2017, when we were participating in the Yerevan Council of Elders elections. And, in fact, we hadstarted the practical phase of the process, today we are taking the next more practical step. A tender was announced for the design of the station. According to the results of the tender, there is a winner and today we are discussing the issue of financing, so that to work out the design of "Ajapnyak" subway station, which will mean that we are already entering the construction stage."

Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan noted that in 2021 a contract was already signed with the design company. According to the Mayor, the project will be implemented in 510 days, or maybe sooner. It will be in three stages in total. Nikol Pashinyan noted that this program is a strategic program - the subway will cross the Hrazdan River, which means that there will be an opportunity for further branching to Davtashen, Malatia-Sebastia, 15th district, etc.

Due to the need to introduce an automated system for the installation of vehicle gas cylinder equipment and the periodic certification process, the Government made a relevant decision. As a result, computer software as well as accounting software packages will be acquired. Starting from August 1, cars whose gas cylinders have not been certified will simply not be able to be refilled at gas stations.