Thursday, 20 July 2017
PM instructs to clarify and simplify licensing, reference issuance processes
A Cabinet sitting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister issued a number of instructions.
Referring to the process of issuing licenses and other documents, the Premier said: “As a result of the Government’s policy, the number of mandatory licenses issued by government agencies has been reduced from 127 to 85. As from October 2016, the right of providing 67 public services was delegated to private companies. At the same time, customers are still facing problems with those services provided exclusively by State bodies: delays in granting licenses and other documents to legal and natural persons, administrative formalities, etc. Moreover, some agencies do not use unified mechanisms or the one-stop-shop principle.”
Considering the need for improving the business environment as stipulated in the Government Program, the Prime Minister gave the heads of central executive agencies a month’s time to develop and submit to the Government Staff an action plan for setting clear-cut deadlines for granting licenses, permits, certificates and other documents, simplifying administration, applying the one-stop-shop principle and reducing the timeframes, if necessary with a focus on those regulations prescribed by departmental legal acts.
The Prime Minister asked the Head of Government Staff to oversee the implementation of the Program and the first paragraph of the requirement, as well as coordinate and summarize the process and periodically report back progress. Concerning violations of the natural resource use regulations, the Head of Government instructed the Minister of Nature Protection to develop and submit to the Government Staff a package of recommendations on exercising stricter control over the use of natural resources to ensure that they are only exploited with permission and in the prescribed quantities, including a package of legislative initiatives aimed at streamlining this sector. If necessary, the question should be discussed with the other stakeholders.
Regarding the imposition of a tax lien commensurable with the fiscal liability, the Prime Minister stated in part, “Over the past few months, the State Revenue Committee and the Central Bank have been drafting a package of legal acts to rule out the imposition by the tax authority of a tax lien on property and cash assets in case of overdue fiscal liabilities. The enforcement of said regulations will minimize the risk of disproportionate seizure of property and cash assets beyond the taxpayer’s fiscal liabilities. Taking into account the above, I expect the State Revenue Committee, the Central Bank and the other entities concerned to have all the necessary legal acts adopted and implemented as soon as possible.”
The Premier asked SRC Chairman Vardan Harutyunyan about the work done in this respect. The SRC Chairman advised that in compliance with the Prime Minister’s instruction, the SRC had developed an action plan in cooperation with the Central Bank that was going to be signed and implemented in the coming days.
The Cabinet approved the terms of reference of the program on creating a unified route network for public transport in the Republic of Armenia. On this basis, data will be collected in order to divide Marzes into regions, and set optimal routes for passenger traffic. As a result, all the communities in the country will be provided with transport services, the travel time will be reduced, the number of vehicles involved in regular passenger traffic will be harmonized with the actual passenger flow. This will lead to higher efficiency and better control of passenger traffic.
Replying to the Prime Minister, Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies Vahan Martirosyan said the issue had been discussed with all interested parties, including the operators and transport companies functional in Armenia. He noted that a competition will be announced, which may also be attended by international companies.
The Executive amended one of its previous decisions. In line with the policy of reserving the right to decision-making to the agencies responsible for each specific area, the meeting decided to entrust the State Property Management Department by the Government with the authority of implementing and supervising the process of alienating State property worth over a certain value.
Highlighting the decision, the Head of Government pointed out, “We increase the flexibility and degree of freedom of the State Property Management Department while, at the same time, we raise the level of responsibility and look forward to having greater budget receipts.”
The Government approved the Clean Armenia Action Plan and a timetable for implementation of a series of complex actions involving public, community and non-governmental organizations. As a result, the number of dumps and scrap-yards will be reduced in order to have only a limited number of licensed garbage operators. Besides, it is expected to dramatically improve the environment in the country, free it from hazardous matters and adverse impacts, as well as to enhance Armenia’s attractiveness for foreign tourists.
In an effort to provide additional incentives and support the activities of economic operators, the meeting decided that the ban on inspections shall be extended until December 30, 2017. The applicable law on RA Citizen’s Passport does not imply a possibility for extending the validity of biometric passports, while it envisages such an opportunity for the holders of old-type passports. Given the above, a relevant decision was passed to allow for the possibility of extending the period of validity of biometric passports.
The Executive amended two previous decisions in line with the above-mentioned laws regulating the same relationships. As a result, the RA citizens will be spared a lot of trouble when using extended passports.
