Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired a regular Cabinet meeting today.

The Government approved the bills on amendments and changes to the Law "On Military Service and Servicemen's Status" and on amendments to the Law "On Defense". The adoption the package of bills is conditioned by the need to create an opportunity for female citizens to undergo mandatory military service on a voluntary basis in accordance with the Government’s Action Plan 2021-2026. The package of bills define the relationships related to applying for this purpose by female citizens who have expressed a desire to undergo mandatory military service on a voluntary basis, their military registration, conscription, assignment to the place of service, and the calculation of the honorarium after the end of the service are defined. In particular, it was considered appropriate to set the period of their mandatory military service at 6 months. After completing the mandatory military service, an honorarium in the amount of 1 million AMD will be set for them.

Referring to the bill, Nikol Pashinyan noted: "We are currently discussing the issue of opening a new page in the history of our army and country. I want to emphasize that this is within the framework of our concept of having a professional army. Women can voluntarily be drafted and undergo a mandatory six-month service, which will be normal service and not a walk in the military unit’s territory. As a result of those six months of service, there will be servicewomen who will be discharged and return to civilian life. These people will be included in the reserve forces of our country's armed forces. There will be people who may want to go into professional service, and they will join our existing army and go into contract military service. I am talking about combat military service. I also want to say that we need to change the perception that women in the military are mostly the personnel that provide some type of services. No, women should become part of the full military service. Even today, we have combat units where women perform full military service, and our logic is that this phenomenon should be strengthened. Within the framework of the "Protector of the Homeland" program, it is assumed that with the six-month program they should also have to prepare for the certification standards, and if they pass those standards, they will be paid according to the new standards, which we are introducing now."

The Government adopted a decision on creating the "Academic City" fund and approving the fund's statute. Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasya noted that the state development program on education until 2030 envisages the creation of the academic city. According to the minister, it will be used to address a number of targets, including having 4 universities in the international ranking, doubling the number of foreign students and raising the international reputation of the education level. "It is planned that the academic city will consist of 3 clusters. Here, within the urban planning solutions, the issue of building the national stadium can also be discussed. There should be a structure that implements these issues, from preparation to the actual legal process and city management," the minister said.

Referring to the topic, Nikol Pashinyan noted that with this decision a new page opens for the country's history. "This is the most important and strategic investment and program, which, of course, we have yet to implement. I must say that in fact very deep discussions took place. They scared us that if it turns out that we are making a wrong move, we will lose what we have. We tried to make sure that we are doing the right thing. The location is also very important. After several discussions, and during the development of the 2030 strategy of the education sector of the Republic of Armenia, we decided that the city will be located at the intersection of Yerevan, Kotayk and Aragatsotn Provinces," said the Prime Minister.

By the Government decision, 2,729,670.0 thousand AMD will be allocated to the regional administrations of Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Lori, Kotayk, Shirak, Syunik, Vayots Dzor and Tavush for the implementation of subsidy programs. As the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan noted, with this regular decision of the Government, it is planned to co-finance 42 subsidy programs for 2021, 2022 and 2023.