Armenia`s authorities plan to enhance military industry`s potential 

ArmInfo.  The Armenian authorities want to increase the efficiency of managing available resources in order to develop the country's military-industrial complex. At an extraordinary session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia (NA), the draft amendments to the law "On the military-industrial complex" submitted by NA deputies from the ruling  Civil Contract faction Trdat Sargsyan and Armen Khachatryan are being discussed in the first reading.

According to Trdat Sargsyan, the development of the  military-industrial complex is of strategic importance, since it will ensure both the defense component and the technological development of the country.  Armenia, as the speaker noted, is facing security challenges, and in this situation, increasing the level of self-sufficiency in weapons is becoming an urgent need.

According to the draft law, the RA government will have the right to provide business entities in the military-industrial complex with various types of weapons and military equipment owned by the state for the purpose of developing new types of products, modernizing, repairing and testing them. Such transactions will be carried out through an authorized body based on the decision of the RA government.  Such a measure, as the speaker noted, is necessary to ensure control and transparency of transactions.

The presented document, Sargsyan continued, will not only allow developing military-industrial complex enterprises, but will also improve the quality of innovative scientific and technical  developments and design solutions. The solution to these issues will allow expanding the volumes of domestic production of weapons and military equipment, more efficient targeted use of the state's financial resources, introducing innovative technologies, and ensuring the material and technical supply of the defense sector. In turn, the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia Mkhitar Hayrapetyan noted that the practice of submitting bills in an accelerated mode, that is, adopting them within 24 hours after the first reading, is unacceptable for the government of the Republic of  Armenia, since the executive body prefers to plan policies in a  particular area in advance. Nevertheless, as the minister emphasized, there are cases that require prompt resolution of existing problems. Hayrapetyan added that in May of this year, it was planned to transfer a dozen different types of military products to military-industrial complex enterprises for the organization of production and testing of their analogues, repair and modernization  of military products.  However, discussions with specialists in the field led the government to the idea that the Cabinet's initiative carries the risk of failure to implement its provisions within the established deadline. For this reason, it became necessary to develop legislative norms that would allow, within one to two weeks after their entry into force, to begin the process of providing military-industrial complex enterprises with various types of state-owned weapons, equipment and spare parts.

The Minister also reported that in recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of companies in the  military-industrial complex, new factories and design bureaus are emerging.

In this regard, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Hakob  Arshakyan proposed to establish a certain quota in the country's legislation for the provision of weapons and equipment within the framework of state orders. This, according to the Deputy Speaker, will ensure the consistency of attracting new investments and further development of the military-industrial complex in the long term.

The country's parliament agreed with the legislative initiative of  the deputies, adopting the document in the first reading. It is  expected that in a few hours it will be considered in the second and final reading.