ArmInfo. The presence of the Universal Health Insurance (UHI) is one of the conditions for completing the EU-Armenia dialogue on visa liberalization. This is for information purposes. If there is no UHI, there will be no liberalization of the visa regime with the European Union.
This was stated by the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on European Integration Arman Yeghoyan on November 5 in parliament during the presentation of the budget of the RA Foreign Ministry for 2025.
On November 1, in parliament, Armenian Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan made it clear that the introduction of the UHI is once again postponed, but this time for an indefinite period, stating that there is no corresponding expenditure item in the draft budget for next year. Meanwhile, the state budget for 2024 planned to allocate 18 billion drams for the introduction of the system from July of this year. But, despite the fact that in early July the World Bank announced its readiness to provide the Republic of Armenia with a $110 million loan to support the program "Ensuring Universal Health Coverage", the introduction of the VMS was postponed until January 2025. As stated by the Ministry of Health, the delay in the adoption of the legal act is mainly due to the determination of the "ability" of the state treasury to fully subsidize the insurance premiums of the first group of beneficiaries.
, - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Paruyr Hovhannisyan stated in the parliament today. He also expressed confidence that the appropriate financial resources will be found for the implementation of the compulsory medical insurance system.
, - Arman Egoyan asked the head of the Ministry of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan.
, - the chief financier of the RA pointed out.
On July 17, 2024, the European Council approved the European Commission's proposal to start a dialogue on visa liberalization with Armenia. Experts find it difficult to say how long these negotiations will last. The European Commission already stated on July 22 this year that the launch of the dialogue will support Armenia in achieving its long-term goal of achieving a visa-free regime with the EU. "The dialogue will lead to reforms in important areas, including travel document security, border management, migration and asylum, public order, external relations and fundamental rights in Armenia. The Commission will closely monitor progress in these areas, in close cooperation with the European Parliament and the Council. The dialogue will take place within the framework of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), which will be presented to the Armenian authorities following a discussion in the Council. Visa liberalisation is not an automatic process and will only be considered if the dialogue is successful and all the conditions set out in the VLAP are met," the European Commission noted, noting that if it is successful, it will become easier and cheaper for Armenian citizens to travel to Europe for short periods (less than 90 days in any 180-day period).
