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

Before addressing the issues on the agenda, the Prime Minister noted. "All three of our reported issues today will be about the new package of measures related to the elimination of the consequences of the flood that occurred in Lori and Tavush regions on May 26, and I think this is also a good opportunity for us to summarize what we managed to do during this time, what was successful and what was not, what conclusions we made and what needs to be done in the future".

The Government approved the program of providing assistance to businessmen who are operating in the areas of the disaster zones in Lori and Tavush regions of the Republic of Armenia and were affected by the disaster. The measure is aimed at overcoming the difficulties faced by the businessmen affected by the emergency situation caused by the rain floods that occured on May 25-26 in Lori and Tavush regions of the Republic of Armenia and to maintain economic activity.

The Government approved the procedure for compensation of damage caused to the population in the field of agriculture in the areas of disaster zones that was declared as a result of the emergency situation in Lori and Tavush regions of the Republic of Armenia.

The Government made a decision on making additions and changes to the annex approved by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia dated July 4, 2024 "On approving the procedure for compensation of damage caused to individuals in the disaster zone as a result of the emergency situation caused by rain floods on May 25-26, 2024 in Lori and Tavush regions of the Republic of Armenia". Taking into account that as a result of the emergency situation caused by the floods, damages were caused to the vehicles of individuals in the disaster area, so the decision proposes to establish the procedure for compensation for the damage caused to the vehicles.

Reference was made to the process of previous decisions related to the elimination of the consequences of the floods.

The families of the missing as well as the captured will receive social support for another 2 months. In order to receive the monetary assistance (in the amount of 300,000 AMD per civilian per month) allocated to the families of missing civilians (as well as captured) within the framework of the measure established by the decision, the application should have been submitted electronically by June 15, 2024. However, to this day there are still civilians missing (as well as captured) whose families are in need of continued support. In order to solve the existing problems, the decision was adopted, according to which the families of the missing (as well as the captured) will receive social support for another 2 months (July and August 2024) in the amount of 300,000 AMD per month, for which they can submit an application until August 20, 2024.

An investment loan will be provided for the financing of the Kajaran tunnel construction project. The Government approved the bill of the Republic of Armenia on the ratification of the agreement signed on July 26, 2024 between the Republic of Armenia and the Eurasian Development Bank on the provision of an investment loan for the financing of the "Kajaran Tunnel Construction" project from the funds of the “Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development".

A free economic zone will be created in Aragatsotn region. At the Cabinet meeting, a decision was made to create a free economic zone in Yeghipatrush settlement of Aparan community of Aragatsotn region in order to attract investments, increase the investment attractiveness of the country, increase the tourist attractiveness of the country, create new jobs and promote sustainable economic development. The creation of a free economic zone in the Aragatsotn region of the Republic of Armenia is expected to promote the development of tourism, the creation of new jobs, and to promote investments. The goal of the project is to build a high-standard ski resort at the regional level, which will contribute to increasing the tourist attraction of the country and sustainable socio-economic development of the country/region.