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

Before discussing the agenda items, Nikol Pashinyan referred to the visit of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and noted: “The visit was dedicated to a very important event, because the EU Commission has made a decision to apply autonomous trade measures to a number of Armenian products. This means that certain product groups will be exported to and imported from the EU without customs duties, that is, under a free trade regime.”

Nikol Pashinyan noted that according to the statements of President von der Leyen, this decision will apply to about 80 percent of potential exports from Armenia in general, 99 percent of agricultural products, fruits and vegetables, and about 90 percent of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The Prime Minister noted that it will take some time before the decision comes into full force, because the member states must make decisions during this time, and the European Parliament must adopt a corresponding resolution. “But I want to remind you that today we also have a decision by which we provide export support in the matter of customs payments. I mean, in real life today we have created that opportunity on our part. Of course, with this decision it further expands. This decision is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for us to be able to take advantage of the potential opportunities that are opening up, because our private sector and business must learn how to use these mechanisms. We must note that this is a completely new direction for a significant, if not the majority, of our exporters,” said Nikol Pashinyan, adding that they have also agreed with EU partners to implement joint support programs for the private sector.

"I want us to appreciate this event, because this is a very significant and turning point, because the EU market of 450 million, which is a high-price segment market, but also a high-standard market. We want to have access to the global market. After all, it is a good opportunity to implement the food standards that we have on paper in real life. I mean, the EU has made the decisions, and during this time the EU institutions will work, but we also need to work with the private sector, informing them about how the mechanisms work," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the export issue has been resolved at the political level, it remains to be solved at the practical level.

The government made additions and changes to the procedure for taking exams for obtaining a driver's license and issuing driver's licenses. It is due to structural changes implemented in the public administration system, the need to resolve problems that have arisen in law enforcement practice, as well as the need to simplify and clarify the process of obtaining a driver's license.

In particular, one of the changes concerns the period of maintaining the positive result in case of passing the theoretical exam. Currently, in case of passing the theoretical exam positively, citizens have one year to pass the practical exam, maintaining the results of the theoretical exam. “We plan that instead of one year, it will be possible to maintain the positive result in the theoretical exam for two years, and then register and set a date for the practical exam,” said Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan.

The government’s decision approved a new financing model for the promotion of private preschool services, introducing a financing mechanism per child, co-financed by the state and the community. As noted by Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan, significant work has already been done in this direction. In particular, licensing mechanisms for private preschool services have been introduced. Thus, the pilot program being implemented concerns children who belong to the older age group, 5-6 years old, have been registered in a community preschool educational institution for at least 9 months, but have not been enrolled in that institution due to existing queues or the lack of service of an appropriate duration. These children will be able to become beneficiaries of an educational program implemented through a state and community financing model.

The government approved the programs and the financing procedure for teaching swimming, skiing, and shooting to school-age children in sports infrastructures operated by private or privately owned entities in the regions of Armenia.

The Government approved the results of the election of the rector of Yerevan State Medical University named after Mkhitar Heratsi. The election of the rector was held in one round. As a result, by secret ballot of the members of the Board of Trustees (19 for, 0 against, 1 ballot invalid), Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Armen Abgar Muradyan was elected to the position of rector of Yerevan State Medical University named after Mkhitar Heratsi for a term of 5 years.