Despite optimization, the expenses of the State Real Estate Cadastre Committee continue to grow

ArmInfo. By the end of this  year, three offices of the State Committee of the Real Estate  Cadastre for servicing the population will be liquidated in Armenia,  the head of the committee Martin Sargsyan stated on November 18 at a  meeting with Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan's participation.

According to him, which the government press service cites, this year  five departments of the committee were merged into one unit, three  more offices for servicing the population are united in a single  structure, and the same number are liquidated. In addition, in order  to reform the cadastre of real estate system, two state non-profit  organizations were merged into the association. As a result of  optimization, 385 million AMD were saved.

Meanwhile, according to the press release, the expenses of the  Committee for the 10 months amounted to 2.59 billion AMD, which is  2.8% more than for the same period of the previous year. It is  envisaged that by the end of 2017 the expenses for the maintenance of  the State Committee of Real Estate Cadastre will amount to 3.39  billion AMD.

It was noted in the meeting  that in Jan-Oct 2017 the number of  submitted applications for property transactions increased by 20.2%.  Over the first 10 months of this year, AMD 2.3 billion was collected  for the services rendered by the committee, which is 11.5% higher  than in the same period of 2016. During the reporting period, 670  million AMD were collected and transferred to the state budget. It is  envisaged that by the end of this year 775 million AMD will be  directed to the state treasury, which will exceed by 22% the  indicators of 10 months of 2016.

Asked by the prime minister whether the closure of some offices led  to problems for the population, Martin Sargsyan informed that the  services were ordered by government agencies to the operators, and  from this point of view, no problems were recorded, no complaints  from citizens were noted.

The Armenian PM welcomed the reform of the real estate cadastre  system, proposing to continue similar actions with respect to the  remaining offices. He noted that in this case 635 million AMD would  be additionally saved.

Martin Sargsyan stressed that a positive difference between income  and expenditure - 200 million AMD - will be channeled to the state  budget. He also reported that in Jan-Sep 2017, 127052 real estate  transactions were made in Armenia, which is 0.8% more than in the  same period last year. According to the chairman of the State  Committee of Real Estate Cadastre, statistics show that in July,  August and September of this year, there is an increase in  transactions, and by the end of the year this figure will increase  even more.

Speaking about the reforms in the system, Martin Sargsyan pointed to  the formation of a refined database by increasing the number of  services provided in electronic form, expanding the services provided  and improving their quality.

Karen Karapetyan stressed the importance of the programs being  implemented by the Committee, noting that part of the funds saved in  the department, which are sent to the state budget, will be returned  to the cadastre to continue the reform process. The Prime Minister  instructed to continue the envisaged programs and pointed out the  importance of accounting for agricultural land, clarifying the  available statistical data, equipping the structural units of the  real estate cadastre with modern technologies.