In 2024, 739 million 12 thousand AMD was presented in the budget bid, out of which 597 million 12 thousand AMD are the maintenance costs of the staff, and the only change that happened this year is that 126 million AMD is planned for the capital repair of buildings and structures. As we informed, the Government allocated a building, which should be designed and then repaired. A design advance payment will be provided in the last quarter of this year.
Next year, the draft will be completely done and a construction tender will be announced. Let me mention that the RA State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition is currently using its premises on a lease basis. And this programme aims to stop providing rent money: The Chairman of the RA State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition Gegham Gevorgyan said this during the preliminary debate of the draft law on the RA State Budget for 2024 at the joint sitting of the NA Standing Committees on Economic Affairs and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs on October 31.
According to the Chairman of the Commission, the RA State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition conducts a study every year in the food and non-food product markets of strategic social importance for the country. The study of target markets is carried out in full. It has initiative in legislative matters as well: It took part in two legislative initiatives in 2023.
Presenting the Commission’s functions in detail, Gegham Gevorgyan spoke about the measures implemented in the educational system, noting that from September 1, 2024, subjects regarding economic competition will be taught in the Master’s degree as a narrow specialization. 100 target studies were conducted.
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At the request of the Chair of the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Gevorg Papoyan, Gegham Gevorgyan presented the situation in the petrol and diesel fuel market. “The results of the study are almost ready. We are trying to develop an objective certain format according to which we will present them to the public. All the information from January 2022 to September 2023 was analyzed. Price fluctuations in the RA were mainly related to the import volume and prices. The problem of our country is not to provide cheap or expensive price, but fair competitive prices. From 2018, a very important process is taking place: In the RA, the volume of players in that market has changed significantly, and this process did not lead to the elimination of the first and second place importer. We let the market work itself out. This is the meaning of the whole competition,” the Chairman of the Commission said.
The Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Babken Tunyan proposed to publish short informative references, because the public’s attention is high during fuel price fluctuations.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
