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

The Government made changes and additions to the relevant decisions and established a new format for the certification and evaluation of results of contract servicemen: officers, non-commissioned and private servicemen who hold positions with the functions of implementation, planning or control of the combat tasks of the Ministry of Defense, and, based on the received evaluations, new amounts of bonuses. According to Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan, it is proposed to set the following amount of additional payment: officers with "excellent" evaluation - 470,000 AMD, "good" - 420,000 AMD, "satisfactory" - 230,000 AMD. In the case of non-commissioned and private servicemen the additional payment will be as follows: 395,000 AMD for "excellent", "good" - 345,000 AMD, "satisfactory" - 205,000 AMD.

The Prime Minister highlighted the adoption of the decision, stating the following. "Dear colleagues, in your presence and during the Cabinet meetings, I formulated a task that salaries in the Armed Forces, in the army, should be at least doubled as a result of the certification. In the case of an "excellent" rating, we will have at least a doubling of the salary, we will also have a "good" and "satisfactory" ratings. These decisions have brought some vitality to the army, and people are actively preparing for certification, which means that a more intensive process of combat training is taking place, which is very important. And, of course, the attractiveness of contract military service will increase significantly."

The Government adopted a decision on the approval of the annual report on the implementation of the state property management plan 2021-2023 for the year of 2022. The Prime Minister noted that the report contains quite impressive indicators and referred to some of them. "The total budget revenues from transactions related to state property in 2022 amounted to 8.9 billion AMD, which is 410 percent more than the same period last year. State budget revenues increased by 456.6 percent, amounting to AMD 7.6 billion, and municipal budget revenues increased by 342 percent, amounting to AMD 1 billion. The funds received from the expropriation of state-owned buildings and structures amounted to 3 billion 291 million AMD, an increase of 372 percent compared to the previous year. Revenues from the payment of the cadastral value of state-owned lands amounted to 4 billion 14 million AMD, an increase of 1370 percent compared to the previous year. Revenues from installation and maintenance of communication equipment on the roofs and attics of state-owned buildings and structures amounted to 318 million 577 000 AMD, an increase of 118 percent. The total value of alienated state property was 20.7 billion AMD, exceeding the average figure of the previous 5 years by 20 times. Another indicator: 102 cars were expropriated." The Prime Minister also emphasized that proper supervision over investment obligations should be implemented and effective mechanisms should be introduced.

The strategy for the development of the mining sector and the resulting action plan (until 2035) was approved by the Government decision. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan noted that the mining sector has never had a strategy, and its existence is extremely important. It outlines the short-term, medium-term and long-term directions of the development of the mining industry in Armenia. The strategy has been subject for public discussion, was agreed with various departments, NGOs, international partners.

The Head of the Government emphasized the importance of the mining industry strategy. "It is a very important document, and I want to highlight several important directions or strategic issues that we are putting before ourselves.

First, the public, the state should receive the greatest possible benefit from the mining sector, and, moreover, directly and indirectly, including the affected communities, local self-government bodies. Second, mining industry should manage environmental risks as effectively as possible. Moreover, not only during exploitation, but also after exploitation, in particular, the process of reclamation, i.e. closing of mines, later returning these areas to civilian use, so to speak, and so on. And thirdly, the mining industry should be brought closer to the best international standards as soon as possible."

Nikol Pashinyan also spoke about the fulfillment of tax obligations by the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine. "You also know that Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine is the number one company operating in the mining industry of the country. And in 2021, according to our pre-election promise, the people, represented by the Government, acquired a share in the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine. And as a primary result, I want to record that Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine paid a record amount of taxes - 145 billion 536 million AMD in 2022. In 2016, the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine had paid AMD 7.8 billion in taxes. In the first quarter of 2023, the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine paid 14 billion AMD in taxes, that is, twice as much tax in the first quarter as in the whole of 2016. Of course, it should be remembered that international copper prices play a role in these statistics.

The Head of the Government drew attention to the state budget revenue indicators, noting. "The Statistical Committee recently published data on state budget revenues. We have already said that in April we have a record high tax collection of about 297 billion AMD. But the following data is very interesting, that the one-month index we collected in April is more than the annual budgets of 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 seperately. In other words, we have collected more money in one month, and in some cases significantly, than the annual budget of these mentioned years and approximately as much as the annual budget of 2005”.