A regular Cabinet meeting took place today, chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

The Government made a decision on making redistribution and amendments in the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On State Budget 2022”, on making amendments in the Government decision of December 23, 2021 N 2121 and on allocating money to the Police of the Republic of Armenia. The purpose of the decision is to purchase and equip vehicles for the introduction of the Patrol Service in Lori and Shirak Provinces. It is planned to add 2 billion 35 million 100 thousand dAMD to the allocations of the Police, of which 289 million 900 thousand AMD for the purchase of 140 patrol cars for the newly formed Patrol Service in Lori and Shirak Provinces, 67 million 200 thousand AMD for equipping the patrol cars, 1 billion 670 million 100 thousand AMD for the purchase of administrative equipment.

Commenting on the issue, PM Pashinyan said, “The Patrol Police Service will be launched in April in Shirak and Lori Provinces. I want to emphasize that this is a very important reform for us. You already know that the Patrol Police has been operating in Yerevan, the capital, since July, and it should be noted that the results of its activities are satisfactory. I have said several times that the most powerful brand of Armenia's external image, if we can say so, is democracy, and we are building a police force that meets democratic standards. I want to draw attention to another issue. Since the enrollment is now in Tavush, Kotayk, Gegharkunik and Aragatsotn Provinces, I would like to call on women to take an active part in this process”.

The executive decided to approve the draft laws of the Republic of Armenia "On Making Amendments to the Law on the RA Budget System", "On Making Amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government" and "On Making Amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government in the City of Yerevan". The purpose of the legislative initiative is the legislative regulation of the process of developing medium-term expenditure plans for communities. It will enable the community to properly manage its financial resources in the medium term, which will be the basis for the development of the draft budget of the community.

The Prime Minister highlighted the adoption of the decision, noting that effective management of public finances is one of the biggest challenges in any country. "It is already a well-known fact that a certain system of cooperation and joint investments has been established between the Government and local self-government bodies. In this regard, it is important to try to put the logic of financial management of local government in a certain link with the Government and to synchronize it as much as possible. I would like to remind you that after this change, we must make sure that the communities, like the Government, have an adopted budget by the end of the year, so that the fiscal year and capital investment cycle start earlier to avoid waste of time."

The Government made a decision to allocate 67 million 125 thousand AMD to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, of which 60 million 60 thousand AMD will be directed to the establishment of educational complexes in 13 settlements of enlarged community of Kapan, elaboration of design and cost-estimate documents, acquisition of expertise services, and 7 million 65 thousand AMD to the lighting system installation near the area of the statue “Road builders” in Charentsavan community of Kotayk region.

The Prime Minister noted that the programs outlined in the field of education must be implemented regardless of anything, regardless of the changing environment and conjuncture. “Implementation of our programs in the field of education is an absolute priority, especially now we are entering a very important stage, when we have completed the planning stage, now we are moving to the implementation stage, which must be done properly and as soon as possible," Nikol Pashinyan said.

Summing up the session, the Prime Minister referred to the situation with the coronavirus and called for a proper continuation of the vaccination process.