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

The Executive decided to approve the recommendations on signing grant agreements "EU Resilience Instrument for Armenia" and "EU for Resilient and Accountable Institutions: Police and migration reforms and protection of human rights in Armenia" between Armenia and the European Commission. Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan reported that the projects with two grant agreements are financed from the European Union budget within the framework of the "EU-Armenia 2021- Multi-annual Indicative Programme".

Prime Minister Pashinyan referred to the agreement reached with the European Union last year, according to which the EU will support Armenia in the amount of 2.4 billion euros with the investment and economic program until 2026 and inquired whether the mentioned programs fit into that framework. Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan said that the mentioned programs are within the logic of that framework, the new component is only the justice sector: human rights, police, which is not provided for by the economic recovery package, but fits in the framework of cooperation with the EU through bilateral programs.

The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of the Government-EU cooperation in content-related and organizational matters and referred to the financing component of the Police reforms process and the formation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs within the framework of the mentioned agreements.

Summarizing the topic of cooperation with the European Union, the Prime Minister also referred to the start of the EU civil observation mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. "I want to record and welcome the start of the work of the European Union civilian observation mission along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. You know that the relevant agreement was reached during the quadrilateral meeting held in Prague on October 4, and I must report with pleasure that the European Union partners reacted and made decisions very promptly. The preparatory group is already in Armenia, as you know, it is already working, and it is covered by the media. And the main group, the observation mission consisting of 40 people, will arrive in Armenia in the near future, and it is planned that it should work for 2 months. There are opinions in our expert circles that we should extend the period of the observation mission or try to make it permanent. I am not sure about it, but in any case, it is a topic that is being discussed in our public and expert circles, and if we see such an opportunity and necessity, we do not rule out that we will study the issue more deeply," Nikol Pashinyan said.

The Government approved the draft law on making additions and amendments to the law on approving the list of goods imported by organizations and individual entrepreneurs not subject to excise tax, the import of which is exempted from value added tax. According to the substantiation, the adoption of the draft is conditioned by the need to create favorable conditions for the import of the necessary raw materials and materials imported for production by business entities. In this regard, the Prime Minister noted. "In general, the expediency of charging VAT at the border has been discussed in Armenia for a very long time, and we seem to have decided that we should go step-by-step in the way of abandoning it."

According to the Head of the Government, the decision does not exempt from value added tax, but refers to taxation at the border, and in the future the value added tax will be generated at the stage of sale or at later stages. "In that regard, our political approach is this: we should try to take this path cautiously, without taking drastic steps, of course, without harming and calculating the risks that may arise for the budget revenues," added Nikol Pashinyan. In the context of the topic, the policy related to VAT refund, which the Government has successfully implemented, was also addressed. The Prime Minister noted that since 2018, this has been the Government's policy, and getting VAT back has always been a problem for businessmen. Now that issue has been solved in a radical way, and in fact, an it works almost in an automated mode.

The Government decided to make amendments and additions to the Republic of Armenia Law "On the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia", as well as to the corresponding decision, and allocated AMD 444,338.0 million to the regional admimnistrations of Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Lori, Kotayk and Shirak Provinces for the purpose of implementing subsidy programs. According to the report of the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, the program proposes to allocate money to co-finance the subsidy programs in the 7 provinces approved in 2021-2022.

The Executive made a decision to appoint Vahan Hakobyan as a customs attaché to the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in the Russian Federation for a period of 3 years.