Thursday, 21 November 2019
Government repays old debts; housing problems of persons displaced from Azerbaijan are being addressed
A regular Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan.
The government adopted a decision on the provision of permanent housing to persons displaced from Azerbaijan in 1988-1992. The reference note says that the housing problems of many refugees are still unresolved.
Under a decree passed in 2004, funds used to be earmarked from the state budget with a view to implementing a priority housing program for those households displaced from Azerbaijan. No such funds were allocated after 2009. By today’s decision, the government will address the housing needs of 112 families that went unsettled for over 30 years. To this end, the meeting approved a procedure and the terms and conditions for issuing housing purchase certificates. About 1.5 billion drams will be allocated for this purpose.
Touching on the decision, Tigran Avinyan noted: “The state had assumed a relevant commitment a long time ago, and, in fact, no steps had been taken for 10-11 years. This is the first step. I have met with the members of these families: they actually live in very poor conditions. I think we should solve all these problems step by step: we are bound by duty to repay the old debt.”
The government approved the draft laws on amending the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia and on amending the RA law “On Constitutional Court” and the related legal acts. According to the rationale, a truly independent judiciary, free of corruption and patronage, has been an absolute priority for the political authorities since the velvet non-violent revolution of 2018. The proposed package is intended to provide an effective and all-comprehensive legal framework for assessing the integrity of judges.
The package is expected to introduce a balanced system for assessing the integrity of judges, which on the one hand will help combat corruption, protectionism, taking into account the conflict of interest in judicial decisions, the instances of fundamental human rights violations, and on the other hand, it will not impair the independence and stability if the judicial system. The necessary structures will be set up to ensure full implementation of the functions vested in the Commission on Prevention of Corruption, and an exhaustive list of corruption offenses will be determined by law.
The meeting next approved the Government’s legislative initiative on draft amendments to the law On Police. The adoption of the bill is due to the need to create a legal framework for the use of video recording and audio recording systems in police stations to prevent possible cases of torture. The adoption of the bill will also ensure the fulfillment of the obligation to torture undertaken by the EU under the EU-funded Agreement on Support for the Protection of Human Rights in Armenia.
The Cabinet decided to alienate the Golden Palace hotel complex in the Kotayk region, which is on the balance sheet of the State Property Management Committee and is the property of the state, during a classic auction as a single lot together with all adjacent structures and real estate. The sstarting price is AMD 7 526 457 800. The decision also provides that the Buyer will also have to pay 4,944,600 drams (including VAT) for the costs incurred in assessing the value of the property. It is also planned to organize three more auctions for the sale of property not sold at the first auction, reducing the initial price of property at each subsequent auction by 5% of the initial price of the last auction.
Tigran Avinyan noted that the auction is likely to take place on December 19, and urged all interested businessmen to take part in the auction.
The government approved a proposal to sign the “Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Kazakhstan on the procedure to follow during citizens’ visits and stay.” In particular, the agreement provides that the citizens of Armenia and Kazakhstan shall be free to stay without registration in each other’s territory for 30 days.
