Thursday, 27 April 2017
The SRC-implemented supervisory activities were of preventive character: no business entities have been sanctioned so far
A regular Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan.
Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister referred to the issues raised by entrepreneurs engaged in commercial activities in trade fairs. In response to the request of the Prime Minister, State Revenue Committee Chairman Vardan Harutyunyan informed that the supervisory activities carried out by the SRC were of purely preventive nature: no business entities have been sanctioned so far.
“Since last November, they have been regularly warned of the need to clarify their documented statements and cash register transactions,” Vardan Harutyunyan said. In this regard, there is a positive trend: small and medium enterprises have realized that the proposed measures are not directed against them, but it aims to get more accurate information on the turnover of major businesses.
The State Revenue Committee Chairman advised that a joint working group has been set up to submit suggestions and recommendations. The Premier urged them to continue raising public awareness of the fact that no extra burden will be placed on small and medium-sized businesses.
With reference to the instances of early repayment of loan amounts, the Prime Minister stated in part, “The applicable legislative arrangements provide banks and credit organizations the opportunity to impose fines or penalties for early repayment of loan amounts by natural or legal persons in accordance with the loan obligation.” He said that it would be more logical to develop such mechanisms and incentives as might encourage conscientious borrowers. In this connection, the Head of Government told the stakeholders to tackle the question of loan relationship and submit recommendations.
The Prime Minister’s next instruction bore on the radical reform of legislation on forest management and illegal logging and the need to streamline relationship in the field of employment.
The meeting approved the draft of Code of Administrative Offenses, which specifically defines the provisions regarding the liabilities of both natural and legal persons. The Government approved a set of measures to provide housing for homeless families in the disaster zone in 2017 mediating the State budget-earmarked funds. The decision intends to allocate AMD 560 million in order to address the housing problem of about 100 beneficiaries in the disaster zone.
The meeting passed another decision, according to which an inspection body shall be established by the Ministry of Healthcare based on a new system of collective management. To ensure grater transparency in its activities, a governing council will be set up, composed of representatives of public and private sectors.
The next decision suggests dissolving the Environmental Inspectorate of the Ministry of Nature Protection and the State Mining Inspectorate of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy Infrastructures with a view to creating a new inspectorate referred to as Environment and Mineral Resources Authority by the Ministry of Nature Protection.
The Government decided to authorize the Mayor of Yerevan to sign contracts that will define the rights and liabilities of the State and the acquirer throughout the process of alienation of property in the area enclosed by the Main Avenue, Abovyan, Buzand, Yeznik Koghbatsi and Aram streets in Yerevan. The decision is meant to attract private investment for implementation of the Old Yerevan project in the aforementioned area.
The Prime Minister noted that a consultation had been held in the Government, attended by government officials and a representative from the City Hall, which discussed the Old Yerevan project and the planned urban development activities in the center of Yerevan.
Prime Minister Karapetian urged Minister of Culture Armen Amiryan and Chairman of the State Committee for Urban Development Narek Sargsyan to pay as much attention as possible to the given project. “We have assumed a lot of commitments with regard to the potential investor that we have failed to comply with so far. We have an investor for the project, but we have been falling short of our commitments for over two years, and yet we are looking for reasons to justify our failure,” the Head of Government said and tasked the Ministers to handle the existing problems.
