A Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Proceeding to the agenda, the government decided that the Prime Minister’s Staff shall be stationed at Marshal Baghramyan-26, and Republic Square, Government House 1. Touching upon the decision, Prime Minister Pashinyan stated in part, “The decision is being adopted with the sole purpose of complying with the requirement of the applicable law. I think that the Prime Minister should eventually give up the seat of Baghramyan-26, which will be returned to the President’s Office over time, just as it used to be before.”

The Cabinet approved the government’s proposals on amending the RA Law on Trade and Services.

Minister of Economic Development and Investments Artsvik Minasyan said the government holds to the ideas of providing equal competition conditions for business entities, as well as supporting SMEs, which are in line with the government’s policy in this area. However, the draft contains some regulations that call for further study, clarification and final wording.

Prime Minister Pashinyan pointed out that the matter should be considered in the framework of the ongoing small and medium-sized business support process, which is a priority. “Of course, serious efforts are being made in that direction. I am going to convene a consultative meeting tomorrow to discuss ways of supporting SMEs so that we can clearly decide on what we need to do and what steps we should take to bolster up small and medium-sized businesses. Armenian SMEs need strong protection. The government will take specific action to that effect, and will do everything to ensure that the proposed measures are effective. It is definite, and we all share the same opinion in this matter,” the Premier said.

The government called off its decision of March 6, 2018, and amended the decision adopted on November 9, 2017. Thus, the date of entry into force of the government decision on the prescription of medicines is postponed until July 1, 2019, except for the medicaments containing narcotic or psychotropic substances, as well as the ones released free of charge or on preferential terms, including the anti-inflammatory and antiviral drugs, immunoglobulin, vaccines, and so on).