Thursday, June 22 2023 16:42

ArmInfo. A regular Cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the  press service of the Premier reports.

The Government approved the package of bills of the Republic of  Armenia on making amendments and additions to the Law "On Motor  Transport" and related laws. The need for the adoption of bills is  due to the purpose of filling the existing legislative gaps in the  field of passenger transportation in the Republic of Armenia and  preventing illegal transportation. In order to solve the existing  problems, it is proposed to regulate the activities of organizations  that register and tranfer passenger orders through electronic  platforms. It is proposed to define the activity of registering and  transferring passenger orders through electronic platforms as an  activity subject to notification. For e-platform passenger  transportation services, it's proposed to establish a state fee for  each transportation, as well as a requirement to provide an  electronic receipt for payment of the order. Measures of  administrative liability in case of violations of regulations are  defined.

Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the implementation of the improvements  envisaged by the bills and in that context referred to the already  made decisions. "First, we made a de jure decision about taxi  services at the airport, now we have to have taxi services there that  meet a certain standard. Next, we established a bus route from the  airport to Yerevan with the support of Yerevan Municipality, and both  are very important issues, including from the point of view of our  country's image."

At today's Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister also touched upon the  news related to the Upper Lars checkpoint and passenger  transportation. "We are pleased to note that our long dialogue with  our Russian colleagues has brought a concrete result," said Nikol  Pashinyan and asked Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan how much the  capacity of the Upper Lars checkpoint has increased and whether we  can say that the queuing problem has been solved by this. "From the  end of 2021, during 2022 and with the results of this year, the  number of 11 lanes at the checkpoint has become 39.  It is a very big  and very important change. In 2020-2021, the record was 300 trucks  per day, today it is about 1500.  Moreover, as of yesterday, there  was a free lane for 409 cars. 24 is for passenger cars so that to  ensure comfort for citizens. On the Russian side, there is one lane  for small cars, which is also important, and two more lanes for  buses.  This is a solution that should not cause any obstacles for  Armenian cargo. It is impossible not to produce absolutely positive  results by going from 11 to 39 lanes. Moreover, it is also important  that by the end of 2024, the number of lanes in Georgia will reach 15  from 9", answered Mher Grigoryan.

Nikol Pashinyan noted that this issue was always on the agenda of his  discussions with the Russian President and the Russian Prime  Minister. "I want to thank both President Putin and Prime Minister  Mishustin for their consistent work on this matter. It was also on  our working agenda with the Prime Minister of Georgia, and I want to  thank Prime Minister Garibashvili. I know that very intensive work is  going on. There is also tunnel construction. Of course, this is also  related to global logistics rearrangements," the Prime Minister  emphasized.

In order to continue the process of providing refunds to pensioners  from non-cash payments, the Government adopted a decision. Based on  the results of the previous period of implementation of the measure,  it was considered appropriate to extend the period of validity of the  public-private social interaction measure to provide refunds to  pensioners from non- cash payments until December 31, 2023.

The Government has submitted recommendations regarding the package of  bills of the Republic of Armenia "On Amendments to the Law on  Gambling Games, Internet Gambling Games and Casinos" and on  amendments to the Law "On Lotteries". The bills propose to regulate  the process of depositing money into gaming accounts. "The bills  envisage establishing, in particular, that in the case of online  gambling games, the special game account can be refilled exclusively  through bank accounts, including card accounts belonging to the given  player. And secondly, it is forbidden to deposit and withdraw funds  to the accounts of participants of totalizers in cash," Minister of  Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan noted.