YEREVAN, OCTOBER 26, ARMENPRESS. A Cabinet meeting was held on October 26, chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister issued a number of instructions, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia.

One of the instructions was about the improvement of the business environment. “A number of measures are being planned, with many underway in 2017 to improve the business environment. Some of the mentioned legislative and practical measures have already been implemented. However, part of society is not sufficiently informed; the Government’s initiatives have not yet been properly presented to business people, problems related to the quality of services have been recorded, and so on.

A simple analysis shows that the rationale is clear: not only the development of reforms, but also their consistent implementation along with systematic notification of businessmen about the emerging opportunities, consistent feedback, the quality of State-administered services and a strict follow-up on the use of new technologies will lead to drastic changes. That is, permanent, consistent monitoring of business environment improvement policies is needed.

Our citizens should take full advantage of the emerging opportunities. They should spend less time on taxes without having to come to relevant offices for getting references, which they can receive by mail, from the nearest bank or via e-services,” the Prime Minister said and instructed the Minister of Economic Development and Investments to join the Center for Strategic Initiatives with a view to submitting a proposal to the Government Staff within a two-week period regarding the Government’s actual, not virtual objective to improve the business environment through short-term and long-term measures, the development of business community awareness indicators and the launch of a monitoring system.

The Premier’s next instruction was about the elimination and prevention of environmental pollution. Karen Karapetyan instructed the ministers of Emergency Situations, Nature Protection, Territorial Administration and Development, Agriculture, Healthcare, as well as the head of State Water Management Committee to take measures to rule out the dumping of raw sewage and prevent the discharge of waste matter into irrigation water streams by applying more stringent sanctions as prescribed by law. They were also told to work out within 2 months and submit to the Government Staff legislative proposals on compensation to be paid for damage caused by pollution.

The Executive adopted a decision to provide partial compensation for tuition fees for those university students receiving social support and the cost of textbooks for 5-12th grade schoolchildren from border settlements.

Money will be made available from the Government’s reserve fund to Armavir Province administration to provide temporary shelters to 11 families affected by the fire that broke out at building No. 9 of Silikian Street in Armavir community on October 22.

Based on the Premier’s relevant instruction, the Government amended a previous decision in a bid to reduce the timeframe for processing applications for exemption from customs duties submitted by entities implementing investment projects in priority areas that will help remove the barriers to the development of the business environment, improve and simplify the services provided to citizens and businesses. Note that the applicable law sets a deadline of 35 business days for processing applications, while the decision shall reduce the applicable deadlines.
A decision based on the need to envisage in the State budget bill and make appropriate re-allocations of the proceeds of loans, grants received from external sources and the funds co-financed by the Government under targeted credit programs was made at the meeting.

The Cabinet endorsed a procedure for the use of psychological services by torture victims who will henceforth get free psychological services at their discretion.

The Government approved the signing of the Agreement on Economic Cooperation between the governments of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Croatia. The document will give an opportunity to develop long-term economic relations between the two countries, create favorable conditions for the development of economic ties and boost the business sector’s activity. The Agreement also provides for the creation of an Armenian-Croatian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation.