Diagnosis from Prime Minister: Armenia`s irrigation system is dead

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

The government approved the State standardization program 2024 and  the list of standardization works. 14123.4 thousand AMD have been  allocated in the budget for the works to be carried out within the  framework of the program. In 2024, 39 national standards are planned  to be developed. The main goal of the national standards development  services program is to create an updated fund of national standards  in harmony with international and European standards aimed at the  innovative development of economic sectors in Armenia, as well as to  ensure the fulfillment of the requirements of technical regulations.  The main task of the program is to align the existing national  standards fund with the current requirements of the dominant branches  of the Armenian economy. During the implementation of the program,  applying the main principle of standardization accepted in the  international procedure, and adopting international standards as a  basis for the development of national standards, favorable conditions  will be created for free access to goods (works, services) of  Armenian companies to international and regional markets (including  the EAEU area), for the recognition of the results of certification  (assessment) of product conformity to the requirements of technical  regulations and national standards on the global market, which will  reduce technical barriers in international trade.

The government adopted a decision "On forgiving the obligations of  natural persons and formulating it as state financial support".

The issue was presented by Minister of Economy Vahe Hovhannisyan.  "Based on Government Decision No. 2326-N of December 28, 2023, the  financial claims of Armenian commercial banks, credit and insurance  organizations against the NK Government and the foundations created  by it, as well as individuals, were assigned to the Government of the  Republic of Armenia, for which treasury bonds were issued for the  latter. The obligations assumed by the government include the credit  obligations of physical persons having pledged gold items to  financial organizations of the Republic of Armenia. In particular,  this is about the credit obligations of about 6,000 citizens for 2.8  billion AMD. The project proposes to forgive the credit obligations  of individuals provided by the pledge of gold items in the amount of  up to 5 million AMD and to create an opportunity to return the gold  items. At present, financial organizations continue to keep around  7,800 pieces of gold with a total weight of around 30 kg pledged  against the obligations of around 1,800 citizens. Moreover, the  composition of liabilities with a total credit of about 2.3 billion  is as follows. 5241 loans up to 500 thousand AMD, 718 loans from 500  thousand to 1 million AMD, 221 loans from 1 million to 2 million AMD,  25 loans from 2-2.5 million AMD, 15 loans 2.5-5 million AMD, and just  5 loans over 5 million AMD." According to the minister, after the  adoption of the decision by the government, the beneficiaries of the  decision can apply to the Ministry of Finance to conclude a debt  forgiveness agreement with the latter. Vahe Hovhannisyan also  informed that the order of submission of applications and other  details regarding the process will be clarified on the official  website of the Ministry and in the media. It was also noted that the  pledged gold items will be returned to the citizens after signing the  debt forgiveness contract.

Referring to the decision, Nikol Pashinyan noted that this applies  exclusively to forcibly displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh, who  received loans with gold as collateral, and these loans were  transferred to the government.