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

In an effort to diversify the terms and conditions applicable to public procurement procedures and develop a system of alternatives, the Government amended one of the previously adopted decisions. The reference note says that the requirement for the amount of qualification under the current regulations, as well as the lack of alternatives, cannot provide sufficient incentives for increased participation in procurement procedures, including SMEs. Accordingly, it is proposed to change the requirements for the type and size of qualification. According to the justification, the purpose of defining the proposed regulations is to stimulate competition in the competitive procurement procedures by defining alternatives for reviewing the amount of qualification.

In particular, the amendment suggests:
- giving participants an opportunity to provide a security pledge with the guarantee available from their insurance company;
- if the participant or the manufacturer of the goods to be supplied by the former under the given procedure has a credit rating granted by reputable international organizations (Fitch, Moodys, Standard & Poor’s) at least proportionate to the rating granted to Armenia, the participant does not need to produce a qualification bid;
- Apply the qualification requirement in case of purchases up to AMD 25 million in the form of a pledge, except for the development of design documents required for construction projects, procurement of expertise, technical supervision services, in which case the security is provided by guarantee or cash, etc.

Highlighting the decision, the Prime Minister voiced conviction that it will result in enhanced economic activity.

The Executive made a decision which seeks to ensure continued access to subsidized loans of up to 1 million drams available as part of the Government’s COVID-19 Response Activity 2. The Activity shall be effective up till October 1 to allow economic entities engaged in agriculture to benefit from micro-loans of up to AMD 1 million, available at 0% interest rate.

The government amended one of its standing decisions, which implies reimbursing the costs incurred by those families that have hosted such Artsakh-domiciled adult citizens as have lost immovable assets in communities under the control of the Artsakh Republic due to hostilities or other causes. The amendment suggests extending the term of the activity by three months.

The government approved a package of bills with a view to amending the RA law On Foreigners and a number of related laws. The amendment is supposed to launch a unified online platform for hiring foreign citizens in the Republic of Armenia. Accordingly, employers will hire foreign workers and get work permits mediating a single electronic platform. Exceptions will be applicable for foreigners exempted from work permits in the Republic of Armenia under international agreements, or those foreign citizens exempt from work permits, whose personal data will be entered into the unified electronic platform.

This will help develop accurate statistics concerning the foreigners employed in the Republic of Armenia, as well as to more effectively monitor the process of hiring foreign workers. At the same time, the concept of “work permit” has been amended, which implies an electronic permit issued by the duly authorized state authority, on the basis of which foreigners will get a status of temporary resident.