Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a regular Cabinet meeting took place today.

The Government approved the draft law on making amendments to the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia, which is aimed at clarifying issues related to the maintenance of salary of employed reservists who are called up for training camps. According to the current regulations, during the training camp, the citizen receives salary according to the rate of the given military position. The draft stipulates that when involving an employee in training camps for a period of up to 30 calendar days, the employer continues to pay at least the positive difference of the employee's basic salary and the money he receives as a soldier for the days of participation in training camps for each working day. And in case of engaging in training camps for a period exceeding 30 calendar days, the employee's salary is determined by an agreement between the employer and the employee or in accordance with the procedure provided by the collective or labor contract.

Referring to the draft law, Nikol Pashinyan noted: "Of course, the state provides payments for training camp participants, but sometimes they are less than the salaries that people receive at their workplaces. Now, with these legal regulations, we define that, in the event that the amount paid to the participant of the training camp is less than the monthly salary paid to him, the difference must be paid by the employer. Along with this, we also have a regulation that when implementing the plan of training camps, we should not invite more than a certain percentage of employees from the same organization to a training camp, so that the organizations do not face disproportionate burdens. Taking into account that military mobilization preparation is very important for increasing the country's security level, I think that, along with the government, both public and private sector organizations should be equally interested in this matter."

The Government has defined the procedure, conditions and the list of universities and professions for providing deferment from compulsory military service to citizens studying in relevant universities in Natural, Technological, Engineering and Mathematical directons that are a priority for the state. Accordingly, the selection procedure of Armenian universities and relevant majors, the conditions for admission and study in the relevant majors in the mentioned universities, which are the basis for granting a citizen a deferment from compulsory military service, as well as the list of relevant universities and majors, are defined. At the moment, the international rating systems include YSU, NPUA, Russian-Armenian (Slavic) universities, the American University in Armenia and other universities that organize education in the Natural, Technological, Engineering and Mathematical fields. About 200 admission places with full reimbursement of the tuition fee by the state have been planned for the bachelor's and master's educational degrees of the 2023-2024 academic year in the relevant specialties of the universities defined by the decision.

According to the decision of the Government, 1 billion 448 million AMD will be allocated to the regional administrations of Ararat, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Lori, Kotayk, Shirak, Vayots Dzor and Tavush for the implementation of subsidy programs. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan noted that with this amount it is planned to co-finance 14 subsidy programs implemented in 12 communities in 2021 and 2022. "With the adoption of this decision, it turns out that this year the government has financed its share for around 80 projects. The whole amount will be more than 5 billion 200 million AMD," the Minister said.