Thursday, 23 May 2013
Government Helps Out Hailstorm Victims
A Cabinet sitting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.
Four agenda items had to do with the aftermath of the recent hailstorm in Armavir Marz. The Government has decided to a) increase the number of hail stations by incorporating them within a single network, b) exempt the affected communities from land tax and irrigation water fees, c) subsidize the conversion of dollar-denominated loans into dram loans and extend the repayment deadlines.
The Cabinet members were briefed on the above issues by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan (see under a separate chapter).
During the sitting, the Prime Minister referred to last year’s findings of the Armenian Control Chamber as reflected in its report of 2012.
Summing up the discussion, the head of government stated, “First of all, it should be noted that the Control Chamber has done a vast amount of work. You have approved almost 80 percent of its findings. Nevertheless, there is still disagreement concerning 20 percent of the problems which we should tackle through joint work. In conclusion, I would like to thank the Chamber staff on behalf of my government.”
The Government decided to grant At-Metals Ltd a 3-year VAT holiday through to May 30, 2016 on imported goods and equipment worth over AMD300mn. The company is set to conduct a feasibility study of Meghrasar mine in Syunik Marz with a view to launching an ore-processing plant for extraction of gold and silver. A multi-metal processing workshop will be set up on the spot, together with a recycling unit. Over AMD1.4bn worth of output will be released in 2013 using some 75 jobs.
Two other decisions were passed to allow 23 refugee households - residents of Abovian town’s Engineering College, hostel premises N20/3 and 2a N7 at Chirac and Moldovan 29/1 in Yerevan, who adopted Armenian citizenship after fleeing Azerbaijani in 1988-1992 - to privatize the residential areas.
The Cabinet approved the proposals on signing six CIS agreements and protocols. The instruments relate to the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, the exchange of official statistics, formation of a common educational area, drafting of by-laws for the intergovernmental committee on the management of crop varieties and hybrid seeds, planting vineyards, crop production and road building.
The meeting endorsed the proposal on signing an enactment protocol between the parties to the Free Trade Zone arrangement of October 18, 2011 and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
