Karen Karapetyan expects the commercial efficiency of environmental protection to be increased

ArmInfo. Prime Minister of  Armenia Karen Karapetyan visited the Ministry of Nature Protection of  Armenia yesterday to get familiarized with the results of  implementation of priority tasks and implementation of activities in  2017, as well as plans for the agency's activities for 2018.

According to the press service of the Armenian government, the  Minister of Nature Protection Artsvik Minasyan reported that 21  events planned for the government's action program for 2017 were held  in the established time frame, there is a corresponding government  decision concerning 17 events, and the remaining 4 are under  discussion interested agencies. 7 out of 9 priority tasks have  already been implemented, in respect of 2 - draft decisions are  submitted to the Government. In 2017, electronic document management  in the department grew from 41.6% to 60%, the granting of a permit  for water use already requires 50 days instead of 180 days.

Prime Minister Karapetyan stressed that if the indicators and  statistics identified by the monitoring cause some concern, then  necessary measures will be taken to change the situation. "It is  necessary to clearly define the sequence of steps so that the  monitoring process does not become an end in itself, because  monitoring is conducted with the aim of changing something," the head  of government said. At the same time, the prime minister instructed  the head of the Ministry of Defense to provide information on the  steps taken based on the results of monitoring 2014-2017, as well as  on interdepartmental work.

Deputy Minister Erik Grigoryan presented the results of the work for  the past year to international organizations in the sphere of  environmental protection. According to him, Grant agreements worth $  20 million have been concluded with the Green Climate Fund.  Negotiations are being held with the German Development Bank KfW and  the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO, in  the area of attracting a grant of 21.7 million euros and 28 million  dollars, respectively, to promote forestry and biodiversity  conservation. Noting the importance of effective use of grant funds,  Karen Karapetyan stressed that any program should have an inclusive  result.

The Prime Minister was also informed about reforms in the forestry  sector and structural changes of the "Aiantar" SNCO. Karapetyan noted  that the SNCOs in charge of this ministry, besides the established  functions, should also contain business elements and ensure  profitability. "We are determined to make the Ajantar SNCO a  profitable and strong structure, and this will be done without a  single violation of environmental standards," the prime minister  concluded.