ArmInfo. According to the draft budget of 2018, 2.381 billion drams will be allocated for the maintenance of the presidential apparatus of Armenia, instead of 4.880 billion 2017.
Head of the staff of the President of Armenia Armen Gevorgyan stated at the discussions of the draft budget of 2018 in the National Assembly of Armenia that the reduction of funding is connected with the transition of the republic to a parliamentary form of government and a significant reduction in the powers of the president of the country. According to him, many structures, such as the Public Council, the National Security Council, the Control Service and the NGO "Public Relations and Information Center" will withdraw from the staff of the President. They either will act independently, or will join the government staff, for example, this will be the case with the SNCO
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In the context of ongoing reforms, the number of employees of the President's staff will also significantly decrease. "We have already reduced the number of employees from 410 to 330, but from April 2018 it is planned to reduce another 120-130 people. In general, the number of employees of the presidential staff should not exceed 180-200 people, "Gevorgyan explained. In the context of the upcoming reforms, he said, the volume of programs implemented by the presidential apparatus will be reduced by 35%.
It should be noted that since April 2018 Armenia has completely switched to a parliamentary form of government. It is then that the term of office of the current President Serzh Sargsyan expires.