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

The Government made redistributions to the state budget and amendments to one of the previous decisions for the implementation of the programs of state housing support for families with children for 2020-2023. In particular, it is envisaged to provide assistance to citizens that have applied to the banks or credit organizations that have contracts with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in the sidelines of programs for one-time financial assistance, insurance of prepayment, birth support programs, as well as citizens who have applied to the Ministry within the framework of birth support program. According to Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan, an unprecedented increase in the number of applicants for the programs has been registered. "The program has three components: one-time financial assistance is provided to purchase an apartment or build a private house with a mortgage loan in the regional settlements, the second component is to provide financial assistance to the beneficiary to pay the insurance premium, and the third is to provide one-time financial assistance to families where a baby is born and who have a mortgage loan”, the Minister said. The Prime Minister emphasized the need for the public to be properly infomred about the programs.

The Government approved the draft law "On Making Amendments to the Law on Military Service and Status of Servicemen." According to Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan, within the framework of the process it is envisaged to provide service apartments to the servicemen admitted to the military educational institution after July 1, 2022 with the right of gratuitous use after graduation.

The Prime Minister also attached importance to the adoption of the bill in terms of promoteing military education. "We have prepared a very serious package of reforms at the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Educational University in terms of both content and physical infrastructure. Of course, you know that we are entering a very important stage of the reform of the Armed Forces, and we think that this decision should be the cornerstone," Nikol Pashinyan said. The Prime Minister added that the Government should pursue this path, create an opportunity for the military to focus on their professional work, having as many social guarantees as possible.

The government approved the draft law "On Amendments to the Law on Non-Cash Transactions". In particular, from the entry into force of the law on July 1, 2022 for transactions concluded by sole proprietors, notaries, lawyers and organizations, one party of which is a natural person, and for transactions concluded between two antural pesons, the payment will be made by non-cash, if the amount of the transaction exceeds the threshold established by law. Nikol Pashinyan attached importance to the adoption of the bill, noting that the reduction of cash turnover is one of the most important directions of the Government's reforms. “From July 1, 2022, it will not be possible to buy and sell apartments or cars in cash. All transactions must be non-cash. And, of course, we must ensure all this with by-laws,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the reform process does not end with this package.

In this context, during the discussion of the bill, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan referred to the recent decision of the Government, according to which a 10% refund is provided for pensions and benefits incase of non-cash transactions. “I would like to inform that three banks have already joined the program: Ardshinbank, VTB Bank (Armenia) and Armbusinessbank. Out of about 560 thousand pensioners, 390 thousand already receive their pensions with bank cards, and out of 80 thousand benefit recipients, still 1000. I think that after this decision comes into force on July 1, the rest will try to follow the logic of the non-cash policy," he said.

The Government approved the proposal to sign Amendment No. 1 to Grant No. TF0B2692 for the “EU4Innovation Project” between the Republic of Armenia and the World Bank. As a result, 80 schools in Tavush Province will be equipped with state-of-the-art natural science-engineering laboratory equipment in line with the revised curricula and standard, as well as the necessary computer equipment, which will make the use of modern teaching methods in laboratories more effective.

The Government adopted a decision aimed at allocating financial resources for the construction of 11 road sections of the capital repair program for 2022. Accordingly, it is proposed to allocate 7.8 billion AMD to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure to ensure the implementation of the "Reconstruction of State Roads" of "Road Network Improvement" program. The works will start in June 2022 and will be completed by the end of the year.