Cash state aid to refugees from Artsakh is not subject to freezing  and confiscation

ArmInfo.The information on social networks about the alleged withdrawal of funds from social  assistance by Armenian banks to forcibly displaced residents of Artsakh is pure insinuation and fake.

As ArmInfo has informed, according to the decision of the Government  of Armenia, one-time cash state social assistance to Artsakh  residents in the amount of 100 thousand drams cannot be seized, it  cannot be confiscated or offset against any obligations of the owner.  This is clearly indicated in paragraph 31 of   Annex No. 2 to the  decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No. 1675 - L  dated October 3, 2023 on the procedure for providing one-time cash  social assistance to Artsakh residents who were forcibly displaced  due to the Azerbaijan's violent armed aggression against Arsakh  Republic on September 19.

Moreover, the Public Relations Department of the Compulsory  Enforcement Service of Judicial Acts of Armenia told ArmInfo that the  receipt of one-time assistance by Artsakh residents is equivalent to  social benefits and payments, and by law they cannot be frozen, much  less seized for any liability. These lists of program beneficiaries  were prepared by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and  provided to Compulsory Enforcement Service.

The Annex to Clause 26 of the Government Decision also indicates how  you can be included in this list of one-time cash social assistance,  if the adult beneficiary was not initially included in it.

The annex to paragraph 26 of the government decision also states how  the beneficiary can be included in this list of one-time cash social  assistance, if the adult beneficiary was not initially included in  it: you need to do it before December 1 of this year, write a request  on the website https://e-request.am/. Further, paragraph 27 explains  who can receive one-time cash social assistance from a beneficiary  included in this list, but now deceased. This has the right to be  done by the beneficiary's spouse, or one of the children who has  reached the age of 14, or a relative (brother or sister) living with  him at the same address in Nagorno- Karabakh. The application must be  submitted before January 20, 2024, along with the necessary documents  (death certificate of the beneficiary, identification document of the  new beneficiary and certificate confirming the relationship with the  deceased), then the relevant service provides a certificate of  payment of the amount to the relative of the deceased.

Today Armenian banks are taking a number of steps related to their  loans and payment cards for forcibly displaced citizens of  Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). As the banks that had branches in the  Republic of Artsakh explained to ArmInfo, the assistance steps  applied to Artsakh residents are taken within the framework of force  majeure provided for in the contracts. In complex, confusing  situations, banks, as a rule, take an individual approach. But  generally, if we are not talking about force majeure, that is,  zeroing out all obligations, then banks apply measures such as credit  holidays, loan extensions without accumulating fines and penalties.  Some banks that were previously active in the Artsakh credit market  (Artsakhbank, Araratbank, Armeconombank) managed to begin the process  of returning gold and other valuables pledged for pawn loans  immediately after Azerbaijan's aggression against the Republic of  Artsakh. 

In particular, Artsakhbank has already returned gold and gold  products to more than 400 Artsakh borrowers, and over 500 more can  receive the pledged gold in the Yerevan branches of the bank.   Armeconombank has fully returned the gold pledged on 200 million  drams pawn loans to the borrowers of Artsakh.Since October 4,  Araratbank in its branch in Stepanakert has already returned gold to  more than 400 Artsakh residents on their loans, but the process has  not yet been completed and is already ongoing in one of the bank's  Yerevan branches, and thanks to the efforts of the bank, the gold  items stored in the Stepanakert branch were transported to Yerevan.