Saturday, 5 August 2017
Agriculture and anti-hail missile system development, construction of small and medium-sized water reservoirs - Karen Karapetyan holds consultation in Armavir Marz
Chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, a consultative meeting was held on August 4 in Armavir Marz of Armenia to discuss Marz and community development programs, ongoing activities and forthcoming tasks.
Presenting the socio-economic situation and the key economic indicators in Armavir Marz, Governor Ashot Ghahramanyan noted that the Marz had a share of 5-6% in the country’s GDP in 2015-2016.
The volume of gross agricultural production is 167 billion drams. 48002 peasant and farming enterprises are engaged in agriculture, 34 organizations are processing and manufacturing agricultural products. 11 of those investment programs presented to the Government from the Marz related to agriculture.
With the support of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, solar stations have been installed in the Lernamerdz community. Work is underway to search for donors for the installation of solar stations in the 9 non-gasified communities in the region. Five-year programs for the development of 97 communities have been developed. As of August 1, 2017, the actual collection of communities’ own revenues amounted to 1.1 billion drams against the planned 1.3 billion drams (84.9%).
Ashot Ghahramanyan noted that after the Prime Minister’s instruction, special attention was paid to justifying the expenses and expenses incurred from the budgets of the communities for the maintenance of municipal enterprises. The Marz administration is currently analyzing the spending on food, staffing, as well as the number of pupils and the implementation of budgets in preschool educational institutions of the region. Within the framework of the Clean Armenia program, 171 dumps were recorded in the communities of the region, 130 of which were to be cleared. During the nationwide cleanup of May 27 and July 29, 125 out of 130 landfills were cleared and shut down. At present, the local authorities are discussing the possibility of expanding the list of garbage disposal entities in communities, establishing a fixed rate and raising the level of collection of budget receipts.
For the seventh year in a row, the region is the only one in the country where the number of frist-grade schoolchildren has been increasing by 150-225 students every year in comparison with the previous year. The conditions in school buildings have been studied, issue of improving financial activities and organizing the educational process in more appropriate conditions in 5 schools with up to 50 students and in 8 schools with 51-100 students are being discussed at this point of time.
The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia has submitted proposals for unification of several schools. The issue of optimizing health facilities is also under discussion. The total cost of planned activities in the sphere of infrastructures is about 5.3 billion drams, in the field of road construction - about 1.3 billion drams.
Ashot Ghahramanyan noted that Armavir Marz is actively cooperating with the territorial units of a number of countries in order to attract investments and implement programs aimed at socio-economic development. Securing employment, creating new jobs and increasing the well-being of the population continue to be priorities in the region.
Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan noted that Armavir is one of the regions with the best gross agricultural product per capita. In response to the Premier’s question, it was noted that the relatively developed farming sector and the proximity to the capital are among the region’s chief assets, while the low level of development of industry, mechanized and intensive agriculture are seen as weaknesses in Armavir Marz.
These considerations formed the basis of the development strategy of Armavir Marz for 2017-2025, taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of the region and the development of programs aimed at solving the existing problems. In this context, most of those investment programs submitted to the Government are the ones aimed at improving the agricultural and industrial enterprises of the region.
Expressing satisfaction with the steps being taken, Karen Karapetyan informed that the Government is discussing the possibilities of stimulating business programs using State support tools.
Then the Head of Government touched upon the collection of communities’ own revenues and the receipts in the sphere of garbage collection. Noting that the indicators are still unsatisfactory - there are many shortcomings identified in the process of planning and collecting - the Head of Government instructed the Governor to analyze the expected volume of revenue collection and the amounts of garbage disposal fees in each community and, based on the results, determine the corresponding goals.
The Premier was informed about the organization in the field of agricultural work and the state of supply of irrigation water, the system of protection from natural disasters, the progress of implementation and the intermediate results of programs implemented in the sphere of state support.
The Prime Minister first of all touched upon the Government’s policy in the sphere of water supply, which is aimed at stimulating the construction of small and medium-sized reservoirs. “For the development of agriculture and conservation of water resources, we consider that the construction of small and medium-sized reservoirs as a priority. This will lead to reduced storage costs for a cubic meter of water, since the constant costs of building a large reservoir are larger. We will consistently go towards this objective,” the Prime Minister said, instructing those responsible to work with the State Water Management Committee.
Noting that it is necessary to increase the effectiveness of the anti-hail protection system, Karen Karapetyan advised that as early as in September a new system of anti-hail missile defense will be tested in Armavir and Aragatsotn Marzes of Armenia.
Attaching great importance to the awareness raising efforts concerning the profitability of the State-supported program of financial leasing (leasing) of agricultural machinery, the Head of Government instructed those responsible to conduct an analysis of profitability and a financial assessment of the mechanization of the agricultural sector.
Prime Minister Karapetyan discussed with the responsible officials in the spheres of education and healthcare the work carried out in these areas. The Premier spoke about the rationale behind the ongoing reforms, proposing to discuss further steps with the relevant departments.
The meeting next discussed the efforts aimed at activating the business environment and attracting eventual investors. In this context, a focus was placed on the cooperation in the regional administration-interested agencies-Chamber of Commerce and Industry-private sector format, as well as the programs in the field of land use and urban development.
