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

The Government adopted a decision which provides for allocating 1 billion 370 million AMD for the implementation of social programs for citizens forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. 950 million AMD will be allocated for temporary housing and utility expenses of people forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. Another 420 million AMD will be allocated to provide one-time monetary social support in the amount of 100,000 AMD. Referring to the question of providing the support money in cash, Nikol Pashinyan noted. "In settlements with more than 1,000 inhabitants, do not make any state payments in cash, because we leave some holes that are not visible and predictable for us. Solve that problem by the end of the year."

The Prime Minister once again urged our compatriots forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to stay, live and work in the Republic of rmenia. "I want to again emphasize this position and appeal to our brothers and sisters forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh. If they will not have an objective opportunity to return to Nagorno-Karabakh, our policy and desire is that they all stay in the Republic of Armenia, live and work in the Republic of Armenia."

The Government approved the procedure for providing subsidies to communities from the state budget 2024 for the implementation of programs formed by participatory budgeting in the communities of the Republic of Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan highlighted the adopted decision and noted. "Now we decide to involve the citizens as well. Within certain program frameworks, the citizens themselves can propose through electronic platforms to implement a specific project in their city next year, it can be in the subsidy logic. The communities themselves will decide what the scope should be, ie what it might cover: infrastructure, education, culture, etc. Now, with the support of our international partners, we have reliable electronic online platforms in four communities: Ashtarak, Abovyan, Armavir and Jermuk. This is a pilot program and we have already allocated funds in the 2024 budget. So that our esteemed residents of the mentioned communities can already think about initiatives, which, of course, cannot be unlimited in their budget. There are many nuances that we will understand in due course. First, we launch the mechanism, then we will understand what adjustments we need to make. I think this is a very important tool for developing political and local self-government tools."

The Government adopted decisions, according to which more than 528 million AMD will be allocated to the provision of property for newly built and thoroughly repaired schools, for increasing the volume of construction of gymnasiums. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that during the implementation of school construction projects, suggestions and initiatives are emerging that improve these projects. Referring to the provision of schools with property, the Prime Minister instructed once again to exclude the involvement of old properties in that process.

At today's Cabinet meeting, Nikol Pashinyan referred to the "Crossroads of Peace" project and noted. "Most recently, we presented our project "Crossroads of Peace". Within the framework of the presentation of that project, I informed that we plan to create a division within the National Security Service of Armenia, the function of which should be providing the security of regional and international communications passing through Armenia, that is, roads, railways, gas pipelines, cables, power transmission lines, as well as the passage of goods, cargo, vehicles and people through those communications. I want to inform you that this division has already been created. Of course, we had previously carried out certain preparatory works in that direction, because it was in our plans, but today we can already record that the division is already formed, equipped to a considerable extent, and practically started its work yesterday."