Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan left for Armavir Province on a working visit. During the meeting held in Armavir city, the Prime Minister was presented with the performance report 2022 of the regional administration of the Province.

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, Head of the State Supervision Service Romanos Petrosyan, Governor of Armavir Edvard Hovhannisyan and other officials participated in the consultation.

The works carried out in the field of agriculture were presented to the Prime Minister. Accordingly, it was reported that in 2022, 43,850 hectares of the total 96,900 ha of rural land in the region were cultivated, of which 58 percent were arable land, 26 percent were orchards, 16 percent were vineyards. Out of 23,625 ha of community-owned rural land, 5308 ha were leased. According to the officials in charge, in 2022, 91 thousand 190 tons of grapes, 7651 tons of fruits and 10 thousand 715 tons of vegetables were purveyed, and in 2021 - 86035 tons, 7935 tons and 5268 tons, respectively. During the previous year, 855 hectares of intensive orchards were established in Armavir region, in total there are 2 thousand 169 hectares of intensive orchards in the region. Information was also presented on the topics of rural insurance and land use.

It was also reported about the measures implemented in the field of urban development, according to which monitoring of subsidy programs, works in the direction of urban development programs, construction permits, micro-regional document, illegal construction and road maintanance were carried out. It was noted that 112 construction works were completed during the reporting period in the sphere of gas supply, irrigation and drinking water systems, repair and construction of kindergartens, asphalt paving, improvement of public buildings, gardens, parks, roofs of residential buildings, elevators, lighting and photovoltaic plant.

Those in charge also presented details about the works carried out in the field of education. According to the report, 25 of the 111 schools are in good physical condition, 55 are in average, and 31 are in poor condition. In 80 schools, renovation and interior furnishing works were carried out with the saved funds, as a result of redistribution, canteens were renovated in 10 schools, the "Sustainable school meals" program is implemented in public schools, property was purchased for 15 schools, urgent problems were solved. In the region, there are 65 kindergartens with 5043 children and 53 preschools with 1217 students. In September, 9 more preschools are planned to open, which will have 208 students.

The process of certification of teachers of the region was also presented to the Prime Minister, according to which in the academic year 2021-2022, 561 teachers passed regular certification, 40 teachers passed voluntary certification, 52 teachers were awarded a quality category. In the academic year 2022-2023, 813 teachers passed regular certification, 101 teachers passed voluntary certification, 36 teachers were awarded a quality category. There are 229 vacancies for teachers.

Regarding the programs implemented in the field of sports, the "Prime Minister's Cup", amateur cross-country cycling, amateur swimming, school team cross-country running, and amateur table tennis were highlighted. In the field of mass sports, the "Governor's Cup" football championship was organized between the communities.

Regarding the health sector, the physical condition of medical institutions was presented, according to which Armavir Medical Center and Baghramyan Health Center are in good condition, Etchmiadzin Medical Center is being renovated, Metsamor Medical Center is in bad condition. It was reported that in the reporting year, a 22 percent increase in paid services was recorded compared to 2021. The Armenian ophthalmology project, the construction of a playground for children with locomotor system problems, the introduction of the computer tomography service, the acquisition of 17 medical equipment, for which the government allocated 205 million AMD, were highlighted among the achievements. It was noted that medical equipment was also purchased with saved resources. Cooperation was established with V. A. Fanarjyan National Center for Oncology, Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center and Mikaelyan Institute of Surgery.

The Prime Minister was reported on the progress of subsidy programs implemented in the region. In particular, it was noted that in 2018-2022, 229 applications were approved, of which 209 were implemented in the same period. It was noted that the total amount was 7 billion 999 million AMD, of which the government's part was 3 billion 540.5 million AMD, the community's part was 4 billion 410.9 million AMD, and the private part was 47.5 million AMD. From 2018 to the 1st quarter of 2023, subsidy programs reached 8 billion 537.3 million AMD. The subsidy programs approved during the mentioned period covered the following areas: asphalt paving, gas supply, public buildings, water supply/drainage, irrigation systems, reconstruction of kindergartens, parks, gardens, beautification, lighting, etc.

The region submitted 36 applications for subsidy programs for 2023, with 160 sub-programs. The volume is 13 billion 99 million AMD, of which 22 with 119 sub-programs have been approved so far, the volume of which is 9 billion 55 million AMD.

It was informed that currently 6 kindergartens are being built within the framework of subsidy programs in the region, 27 are being overhauled, 10 are being repaired, and other works are being carried out in 26 kindergartens. Last year, the construction works of 3 schools were completed in Armavir Province, currently the construction works of two are in progress. Construction of 10 more schools will be included in future construction plans.

Since 2018, the Ministry of Territorial Admnistration and Infrastructure has implemented projects worth 24 billion AMD, 151 million AMD by the Ministry of Health, and 25 billion AMD by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport.

In the near future, it is planned to build a Smart Center in the city of Armavir by the Children of Armenia Fund. For this purpose, 8.2 million USD will be invested. Large private housing construction projects are underway in the region. It is planned to build 4 thousand 762 apartments within their framework. In total, more than 300 million USD will be invested.

The implementation of own income of communities in the region was 102 percent. Instead of 4.26 billion AMD planned for the previous year, the communities collected 4.35 billion AMD. Compared to 2021, the communities' own incomes, in general, increased by 654 million AMD.

Summarizing the meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted the implementation of consistent work in the direction of increasing the volume of rural land in the region, increasing the efficiency of water resources management, introducing drip irrigation systems, and encouraging the establishment of intensive orchards. Nikol Pashinyan instructed the officials to evaluate the above-mentioned programs implemented by the government in the rural sector and to take steps to improve them and make them even more affordable.

At the same time, the Prime Minister instructed to inventory the large plots of land of state importance and to carry out consistent work in order to attract investors and implement investment programs. Reference was made to food production in the region and the need to change the product standard and diversify export destinations.

During the consultation, the problems existing in the region and the possibilities of their solution were also addressed.