Republican Party of Armenia

 The Government held today a regular meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian.

Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister suggested holding a minute of silence for the Moscow-Yerevan bus crash victims. Hovik Abrahamyan said that a government commission had been set up according to the Prime Minister’s decision, headed by Minister of Transport and Communication Gagik Beglaryan.

“Healthcare Minister Armen Muradyan and Gagik Beglaryan have been in Tula province for two days now, providing emergency assistance to our compatriots. We are grateful to the Government, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation. Following yesterday’s discussion with President Serzh Sargsyan, we decided that all the costs, including treatment and funeral, will be covered by the Government,” the Premier said.

The Government decided to offer a 3-year VAT holiday to Armenian Harvest Ltd for goods and equipment imported by the Company, which is going to cultivate high-quality Dutch roses at a 11ha-wide greenhouse facility. The Company is planning to make an investment of about AMD1, 637 billion, of which 1.337 billion will be used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment.

The Company is expected to produce about 2.5 billion dram worth of roses in 2016, the bulk of which will be exported to Russia, Georgia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries. The investment program is supposed to create some 90 jobs.

The Government approved the Protocol “On some issues related to the import and turnover of goods and commodities on the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union,” which was signed on October 16, 2015 in Burabay by the Heads of State of EAEC-member countries. The Protocol specifies rules and regulations for the import and transportation of specific goods on the EAEC customs territory in connection with Kazakhstan’s accession to the WTO.

The provisions of the Protocol affect those products included in the list of goods imported from third countries into the Republic of Kazakhstan, which will be imposed lower customs rates in line with Kazakhstan’s WTO commitments.

The meeting next approved the agreement on between the Republic of Armenia and the Eurasian Development Bank on the provision of a financial credit from the Eurasian Economic Community Anti-Crisis Fund’s resources, which provides for the grant of a loan of 300 million US dollars as budgetary support. The loan will be provided in three tranches, each amounting to USD100 million. The annual interest rate is 2.1 percent with a 20-year maturity and a grace period of 10 years. A prerequisite for the disbursement of each tranche is the implementation of the reform program by the Government and the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia.

The reform program will focus on energy sector’s financial stability, public finance management efficiency and improved conditions for entrepreneurship.

In conclusion, the Government suggested holding an extraordinary National Assembly session on November 10, 2015, at 11: 00 local time, with an agenda featuring a package of 13 laws and 8 international treaties.