A regular Cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
By the government decision, it is planned to redistribute 2,920,000.0 thousand AMD from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, within the amount provided for the construction of educational complexes within the state budget for 2024, from the Urban Planning Committee of the Republic of Armenia to the Territorial Development Fund of the Republic of Armenia, transferring the powers of the customer for the construction of 10 educational complexes.
Within the scope of the topic, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan also touched on one of the unreported issues, according to which sports facilities will be equipped with modern sports equipment and their training conditions will be improved. Accordingly, by the decision of the Government, free ownership property will be allocated to children and youth sports schools of the Republic of Armenia, national sports federations and other non-governmental organizations. The decision approved the list of distribution of property to be done in 2024.
By decision of the Government, changes and additions were made to one of the previous decisions, which propose making the conditions for public supervision over the execution of contracts concluded as a result of procurement procedures more flexible. In particular, it is planned to establish that non-governmental organizations and persons engaged in media activities who have expressed a desire to participate in the process of accepting the results of a contract by registering with the Ministry of Finance will automatically receive the opportunity to participate in the process of accepting the results of contracts that do not contain state secrets.
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Reference was also made to a decision made within the scope of non-reportable issues, according to which the 0.431 ha plot of land located at 3 Narekatsi address, Gavar community, Gegharkunik region, registered as the property of the Republic of Armenia, and the buildings built on it were assigned to the State Property Management Committee and assigned to Gavar orphanage with the right of free use for indefinite period. It was reported that the purpose of the decision is to organize educational, cultural, sports activities, cognitive and educational entertainment for the children of the orphanage. The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs was instructed to take measures to adapt the property to the needs of the orphanage.
Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan also informed what properties were attached during the previous 8 months to the State Property Management Committee. “I would like to note that in general, 11 billion AMD worth of property and currency have already been returned to the state within the framework of our two exclusive powers – the confiscation of property of illegal origin and the function of protecting state interests. Within the framework of the confiscation of property of illegal origin, 7 immovable and 1 movable properties with a total value of 4 billion 118 million AMD were transferred to the the Republic of Armenia. Property equivalent to more than 6 billion AMD was recovered with the lawsuits submitted within the framework of the state interest protection function. I would like to note that today the settlement agreement approved by the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal between the Yerevan City Prosecutor’s Office and the defendant in a civil case pending in the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal comes into force, according to which Sohocentr LLC returns to the state the territory at the address Yerevan, st. Koghbatsi, 36/3 (internal area – 253.8 sq.m.), the approximate market value of which is 1 billion AMD. I would also like to note that a cafe is already leasing this territory, and as a result of discussing the lease agreement, it was decided to keep it, and rental payments for a minimum of 5 years, with the possibility of extension for another 5 years, which is about 38 million AMD per year, will be received by the state”, Anna Vardapetyan noted.
“Mentioning this issue is important for that it should be obvious to everyone that the government has not forgotten its political commitments related to the return of illegal property for a single second, but legal mechanisms have been created that are no longer within the scope of the government’s activities. In other words, we have done the political part of the work, and at least the mechanism of confiscation of illegal property, if I am not mistaken, has been fully operational since January 2022. And I learned from your last report, Mrs. Vardapetyan, that lawsuits have already been filed regarding the property worth 1 billion 350 million USD. And this is the case when we have previously said that when there is a public demand and it still exists today, our principle was that we should show consistency and legality,” said the Head of the Government.
INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
