On June 23 and 24, the sessions of the competition commission for the members of the Board of Trustees of the Universal Health Insurance Fund and the General Director of the Fund were held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan noted that the election of the members of the commission and the General Director takes place in two stages. In the first stage, announcements were made within the established deadlines, the submitted applications were examined, and those candidates who meet the requirements for occupying the above-mentioned positions were selected. According to Anahit Avanesyan, the second stage of the competition is taking place within the framework of the sessions, and the members of the commission and the General Director will be selected based on the results of the interviews from the candidates selected in the first stage.

According to the agenda, the members of the commission first studied the documents submitted by the candidates and conducted interviews with them. During the interview, the candidates presented their vision of improving the development and management efficiency of the sector, their professional experience, and answered the questions of the competition commission members. After the interview stage, a vote was held, the results of the vote were summarized, and the winners were named.

Next, the Prime Minister announced the results of the competition. Accordingly, as a result of the vote, the following were elected members of the Board of Trustees: Shant Shekherdimian, Head of Pediatric Surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles Hospital; Varduhi Petrosyan, Dean of the Faculty of Public Health at the American University of Armenia; Artashes Tonoyan, Director of the Yerevan Branch of the World Trade Center; Toomas Palu, Advisor to the Ukraine Office of the World Health Organization; and Khodam Rostomyan, Regional Director of Kaiser Permanente. Ruben Melkonyan. Chief Financial Officer of Bereke Bank Kazakhstan, Ruben Melkonyan, was elected as the General Director of the Fund.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan thanked the members of the competition committee for their effective work and noted: “The universal health insurance system is a very significant and milestone reform for the Republic of Armenia, and the next stage of this reform is taking place.” According to the Prime Minister, the Government delegates the management of the fund to the selected members and the Director General, continuing to play a significant role in the process of developing policies. According to the Prime Minister, the beneficiaries also play a very significant role in this process, with their daily feedback and their level of satisfaction, as well as the medical community, whose representatives are involved in the competition committee.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, the selection of the members of the Board of Trustees and the Director General was carried out with the logic that the Government, the Ministry of Health, beneficiaries, the medical community, the Board of Trustees and the Director General will form a certain system of balances, which in turn will ensure the overall development and success of the fund and the Universal Health Insurance system in general.

In conclusion, the Prime Minister thanked all those involved in the process, as well as Samvel Kharazyan, the acting General Director of the Fund, for the work done during this period, and expressed confidence that he will continue his participation in the process in some form. According to Nikol Pashinyan, there is sufficient potential for the reform underway so far to continue successfully, since the universal health insurance system covering the entire population is expected ahead, which is a large and extensive work.