Vaharshapan and Khoi communities to be merged 

ArmInfo. Vagharshapat and Khoy communities of Armavir region will be united. The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly on July 2, introduced amendments to the law "On  administrative-territorial division" in the first reading.

As the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of  the Republic of Armenia David Khudatyan noted in his speech, both communities will be united into one Vagharshapat community with 19 settlements subordinate to it. According to him, the purpose of this step is to consolidate management units in order to increase the efficiency of local self-government and sustainable development of regions. 

The Minister noted that a single community will have more  opportunities to implement local programs and investment projects. With the adoption of the bill, the powers of local self-government bodies will be suspended, and during the elections to the Council of Elders of the united community, its new head will be elected. Since February 14, 2016, 77 community amalgamation programs have been implemented in Armenia, reducing their number from 908 to 64. 

The amalgamations cover all regions of the republic and represent one of the key stages of the administrative-territorial reform aimed at decentralization and improving the quality of public services. It should be noted that the ruling Civil Contract party in Armenia has already nominated its candidate for the post of head of the Vagharshapat community. The current governor of the Armavir region, Argishti Mekhakyan, has become the candidate. Recall that the former head of the Vagharshapat community, Diana Gasparyan, resigned on May  27.