A regular Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

The Government adopted a decision to reallocate about 13 billion drams for the overhaul, construction, reconstruction and repair of roads, the provision of technical and author's supervision services for them, as well as the payment of 5% of completed construction works, the remaining amounts of technical and author's supervision services provided, and 30% of the services for the acquisition of design and estimate documents. The total length of the highways to be renovated, as stipulated by the decision, is 57.5 km, of which interstate highways are 0.9 km, national highways are 26.7 km, regional (local) highways are 29.9 km, and the number of transport facilities is 3.

The Prime Minister presented the programs financed by the decision.

The Government adopted a decision “On consolidating real estate”, which envisages consolidating a 20.5657 hectare land plot worth 323,800,000 drams located in the Kanakeravan settlement of Nor Hachn community of Kotayk region, which is the property of the Republic of Armenia, to the State Property Management Committee. As noted by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Davit Khudatyan, the property was returned to the Republic of Armenia by a judicial act issued by the Anti-Corruption Court based on the claims of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan provided details on the case and noted that on August 29, 2023, the Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit with the Anti-Corruption Court for the confiscation of property of illegal origin against Manuk Hakobyan, assistant to the former head of the Abovyan community of Kotayk region Karapet Guloyan, and his wife. "Also, the Anti-Corruption Committee examined a criminal case against Karapet Guloyan, which was submitted to the court with an indictment. As for Karapet Guloyan, I would like to note that the criminal case relates to his tenure as the mayor of Abovyan from 2008 to 2015. According to the indictment, Karapet Guloyan abused his powers with the assistance of other officials of the Abovyan municipality or other citizens, in a total of 65 episodes, alienated lands located in the parks, gardens and streets of the Abovyan community to various persons through direct sale or through fake auctions. In 2 cases, including using his official position, with prior agreement with persons affiliated with him, he legalized particularly large amounts of property obtained as a result of criminal activity," Anna Vardapetyan specifically noted.

It was also noted that in relation to Karapet Guloyan and his associates, there is also a court decision on the confiscation of property of illegal origin, which entered into legal force on April 15, 2026, according to which a number of properties of illegal origin from Karapet Guloyan and his wife, Roza Gagik Tsarukyan, are subject to confiscation.

“We did not set a goal to take someone’s legal property from their hands, but we set a goal to take illegal property from their hands and return it to the state. All these difficulties that we are going through were very predictable, not only because a new institution is being formed from scratch, but also because we are fighting against an entire “union” of illegal property acquisition. This is why I say that we are fighting against the “mafia”. Can you imagine the amount of property, which were obviously acquired by people who had influence?And there are shadowy and invisible parts of those influences that are not visible to us, but over time, those pieces also become visible," said Nikol Pashinyan.

Referring to the criticism of the work done in that direction, the Prime Minister emphasized: “We are the only political force in the Republic of Armenia that has taken up, adopted and consistently advances that agenda. And with the decision of the Court of Cassation, it is already an established institution.”

Due to the need to ensure the implementation of the program of events for holding the “Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2026” international wine tasting competition in the Republic of Armenia, the Government adopted a decision. Accordingly, it is planned to allocate the necessary 684 million drams for 2026 to the Viticulture and Winemaking Fund of Armenia through redistribution from the financial resources allocated by the 2026 state budget to the Ministry of Economy. The competition will be organized on May 19-23. The three-day competition will be held at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex, and will be attended by about 400 wine experts from 65 countries, as well as 120 wine buyers, 200 journalists, bloggers, sommeliers and highly rated wine experts, who will evaluate about 8,000 types of wine from more than 60 countries. Business meetings between wine buyers, sellers and Armenian wine producers will be held within the framework of the event. Visits to wine regions, wineries and historical and cultural sites will be organized.

At the end of the Cabinet meeting, Nikol Pashinyan noted: "The campaign for the next National Assembly elections begins tomorrow, and I and most of the Cabinet members will be on vacation to participate in the campaign.

Of course, our biggest priority is to hold the parliamentary elections in accordance with international standards of democracy, to ensure the free expression of the will of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and to exclude illegal influences on the will of the voters. And, of course, up to this point, our law enforcement agencies have done a tremendous job, but we must also not relax our vigilance in order to exclude the influence of electoral bribes and other illegal means on the election results, because in 2021, imagine, under those conditions, we were able to hold elections that meet international standards.

Naturally, now we are more confident that we are able to do this and we will definitely do it. And ensuring the legality of the campaign process is also very important, our law enforcement agencies must be attentive to creating normal conditions for the campaign of political forces. Naturally, the problems related to the accessibility of halls and squares have long been closed in Armenia. I am not aware of such a problem at all. If anyone knows, let them tell me, naturally, these problems will be solved, but I exclude that there will be any restriction of any hall for any reason. It is not about the elections. In the entire previous period, the opposition political forces did not have restrictions on halls, etc. in the most acute situations.

I think that all the prerequisites are there for us to conduct the parliamentary elections at a proper level, in accordance with all the rules and standards of democracy, to ensure the free registration of the will of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and the expression of that will, and, of course, the competition of thoughts, ideas, programs for the benefit of the Republic of Armenia and its people”.