Cabinet meeting was held on Friday, chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan.
Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister issued a number of instructions. Touching upon the performance of the farming sector, the Head of Government instructed the Ministers of Agriculture, Territorial Administration and Development, the Marz administrations and the Head of National Statistics Service of the Republic of Armenia to summarize and report back to the Government Staff the findings of the analysis on agriculture indicators, with reference made to the reasons behind the shortfalls.
Referring to the indices, the Premier noted that in January-August growth was registered in all spheres except agriculture and construction. According to the Prime Minister, the steps taken in the construction sector will lead to growth in construction.
“In terms of agriculture, we need to understand the actual figures, and we need to be very careful about it,” Karen Karapetyan said.
The Prime Minister’s next instruction was about the preparations for the International Economic Forum to be held in Armenia in 2018. The Head of Government noted that comprehensive information on Armenia’s economic potential, investment programs and economic growth had been provided during the latest Armenia-Diaspora forum.
“In fact, we need to make it more accessible. That is why should raise awareness of our scientific and economic potential among world-renowned economic organizations and entrepreneurs by organizing modern-standards-compliant economic events in our country,” Karen Karapetyan said and instructed the Chief of Government Staff to develop a relevant draft legal act within a week’s time on establishment of an interagency commission for organizing the aforementioned international economic forum, providing that the commission should be headed by the Deputy Prime Minister and comprised of the ministers responsible for the economic sector. The Armenian Development Fund shall be entrusted with the commission’s organizational and secretarial activities.
Karen Karapetyan advised that the work on the development of the Digital Agenda of Armenia strategic paper has already been launched. The Head of Government instructed the heads of central executive agencies to closely cooperate with the Center for Strategic Initiatives and the Digital Armenia Foundation by the deadline of November 30, providing all necessary information during the development of the document.
As to the control over the implementation of the assignments, the Premier instructed the Chief of Government Staff to summarize and report back within a week’s time the findings of the monitoring and organize a consultation with the heads of central executive agencies.
The meeting approved the Government’s legislative initiative on the bill “On making amendments to RA Tax Code.” Accordingly, in case of non-payment of the amount returned to the single account within 20 days after the taxpayer’s application, the term for penalty calculation shall be reduced 3 times from 90 to 30 days.
The meeting next approved the Government’s legislative initiative on the bills to make amendments to the law “On compulsory enforcement of judicial acts” and a number of related laws. The initiative seeks increased efficiency in the enforcement of judicial acts and proper collection of tax receipts on property seizure. In particular, the bills set clear and uniform deadlines for making decisions by the compulsory enforcement officer.
In particular, as a single term for decision-making, a three-day period is established after the occurrence of the relevant grounds. The compulsory executor’s powers have been clarified as a means of securing the claim in the amount of the claim against the debtor’s property.
Under the Government’s decision, Era Technologies LLC will be granted an operator’s license for Alliance free economic zone. The company plans to start manufacturing smart wallets (Smart Wallet) using information technology. The volume of production will be nearly USD500, 000 in 2018 to reach the mark of about USD2 million over the next five years. The export destinations are the USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore and other countries.
The Government amended one of the previously adopted resolutions. The new regulations stipulate that in case of impossibility of providing medical examination or treatment in Armenia’s healthcare institutions for such rescue officers as will get illnesses or injuries in the exercise of combat missions, their treatment will be organized in a foreign country at the State’s expense, including the costs of travel, treatment and residence.