Thursday, 24 August 2017
Government looking for proposals on increasing the area of irrigated land
A Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister issued a number of instructions.
Touching upon the increase in the area of irrigated lands, the Prime Minister instructed the Minister of Territorial Administration and Development, the Minister of Nature Protection, the Minister of Agriculture and the Marz Governors to submit within a month’s time to the State Water Management Committee materials, data and information on increasing the area of irrigated land.
The State Water Management Committee Chairman was given two months to take measures in cooperation with other stakeholders aimed at improving the efficiency of irrigation systems within two months of the receipt of such information and submit to the Staff of Government a proposal on increasing the area of irrigated land by providing a timetable for implementing the proposed measures.
Regarding the warnings for minor tax offenses, the Head of Government instructed the Minister of Economic Development and Investments and the Head of State Revenue Committee by the Government of the Republic to study and submit to the Government proposals on the use of warnings with regard to business entities in the event of minor offenses committed for the first time and specifying the amount of fine applied.
The Government approved the concept for the development of mining industry, on the basis of which a clear policy and strategy will be developed for implementation of specific actions, dealing with problems and ensuring sustainable development.
The Government adopted a resolution on the transfer to trust management of the rights confirmed by the shares of High Voltage Electric Networks CJSC. Accordingly, the 100 % State-owned management rights shall be transferred to Tashir Capital CJSC.
The meeting approved the Program of Activities for 2017-2018 for surgical interventions to remove cataracts for certain groups with the goal of preventing blindness. As a result, about 3000 operations will be carried out as part of State order.
Financial resources will be allocated from the Government’s reserve fund to the Ministry of Nature Protection for cleaning Lake Sevan from forest plantings and related activities. In particular, funds will be made available to Dilijan national park to ensure the protection of three sites by a private security service.
Karen Karapetyan noted that this is the first case of transfer of protection functions to a private organization. “All law enforcement agencies have been duly notified that we are going to enforce a special control regime in Dilijan. We need to monitor the effectiveness of this pilot program,” the Head of Government said.
Under another decision, a center for support of integrated research programs will be established, as a result of which Armenian organizations and individuals will enjoy greater opportunities for involvement in the programs funded by the European Commission, and cooperation within the framework of the agreement on participation in the Horizon 2020 program will be developed.
At today’s meeting, the Government adopted several resolutions on the reorganization of a number of schools. Decisions were made to reduce the number of schools and optimize their activities.
Touching upon the process of optimization, Karen Karapetyan noted, “Our studies have shown that we have been allowing for a wide range of expenses per student. It was also found out that the employment and workload of schools are different. Under these circumstances, the fixed costs - heating and others – tend to increase dramatically, while the quality of education does not benefit from this. The super task of optimization is not only to achieve effective management of costs, but also to provide for quality education.”
In order to ensure the application of the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia, the Government approved the procedure and terms for reimbursement of the amounts of excise duty paid by exporters for such goods available from excisable local producers or packers as are subject to excise tax. The new procedure is expected to streamline the above-mentioned economic relations.
