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.
