Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan visited the State Committee of Real Estate Cadastre by the Government of the Republic of Armenia (SCREC). The Premier first toured the Arabkir Service Office to get acquainted with the services provided and the ongoing improvements. Then, a consultation was held, during which SCREC Chairman Martin Sargsyan reported on the activities scheduled for 2016-2017, the ongoing reforms and expected results, the system’s achievements, the status of current programs, as well as on the possible solutions to existing problems.
Five local subdivisions were said to have been merged in Yerevan and Marzes, 3 service offices have been merged with others, and 3 more – liquidated. 5 other units will have been dissolved by this yearend. Two SNCOs have been reorganized into a single one. As a result of optimization, a total of 385 million drams has been saved so far.
The Head of Government wanted to know whether the above liquidations had affected the services provided to the population. He was told that the services provided by the former units had been delegated to the operators entrusted with the provision of public services, and no problem could be seen in this regard. Karen Karapetyan welcomed the ongoing reform and suggested proceeding in the same way with the other service offices. Additional 635 million drams will be saved in this way.
It was also reported that in January-October 2017, the number of applications submitted to the local units increased by 20.2%; the number of applications received by the Committee staff is 15.6% up, with 2.95 billion drams collected in service fees, which is an increase of 11.5 percent over the period.
670 million drams were transferred to the State budget during the first 10 months of this year. By yearend, the State budget will get 775 million drams in receipts or 22% more than in the same period of 2016. In the aforementioned period, the system’s expenditures stood at AMD 2.59 billion, which is 2.8% more than in January-October 2016. Annual expenditure is expected to make 3.39 billion drams.
Martin Sargsyan underlined that either the positive difference between income and expenditure – about 200 million drams – will be transferred to the State budget. It was also reported that in January-September of 2017, 127052 real estate transactions were implemented nationwide, which is 0.8% more than in the same period of 2016.
According to the SCREC Chairman, the statistics for July, August and September show that the number of transactions is gradually increasing, and a larger increase will be recorded by yearend as compared with the same period in 2016.
Coming to the ongoing reforms, Martin Sargsyan dwelt on the steps aimed at developing a complete and accurate database of real estate, increasing the range of online services, enhancing the quality of services etc.
Martin Sargsyan presented the mapping basis of the geo-information systems of Yerevan, Gyumri and Vanadzor cities, as well as the ongoing preparations for the launch of the Committee’s geo-portal – a digital online working platform – which will contain geographic spatial data and will offer appropriate analytical and search tools. The platform will feature Armenia’s State governance bodies and the operators of linear infrastructures.
Martin Sargsyan next presented the process of establishing a geographical information system for Lake Sevan coastal areas, which is being implemented by the Committee. The program implies formation of a digital model of land and relief at an altitude of 1900-1905 meters.
The planned activities are supposed to help make accurate forecasts on such coastal problems as may arise due to water level rise in Lake Sevan.
It was reported that in order to improve the quality of services, the possibility of providing the necessary resources for the provision of cadastral services by Armenia’s consular offices is being discussed. This will facilitate the implementation of real estate-related transactions by our compatriots abroad. A pilot project has already been introduced in the Artsakh Republic and St. Petersburg.
The Prime Minister was informed about a number of other reforms in the cadastre system aimed at improving service quality and developing the system. Hailing the implementation of these programs, the Premier noted that the savings and some of the money transferred to the State budget will be used to advance the cadastre system reform and modernize the sector in general.
Karen Karapetyan told the SCREC Chairman to continue implementing the planned activities. The Prime Minister highlighted the need for taking stock of all agricultural and cultivated land, update the statistical databases and provide the system with the latest state-of-the-art technologies.
