Thursday, 30 June 2011
People in Vaiots-Dzor Throw in Their Lot with Marz Development
Chaired by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the government met in an outgoing sitting at Yeghegnadzor, the administrative center of Vaiots-Dzor marz.
The sitting opened with a report by Marz Governor Sergey Bagratyan on the social-economic situation in Vaiots-Dzor marz as of the first 5 months of 2011 which was taken note of along with the analytical account of citizens’ applications, petitions and suggestions as presented by the Chief of Government Staff.
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan advised that the sitting was preceded by a traditional poll carried out in the marz: “If we compare the findings with the average index of the Republic of Armenia, we can state that the problems remain the same throughout the marzes. The first issue is that of jobs, the second and the third ones relate to welfare and intercommunity roads. Note that Vaiots-Dzor is sufficiently well poised in terms of per capita GDP share and social-economic performance.”
The issue of service quality was reported on by the Head of Public Services Regulatory Authority, followed by the Head of National Statistics Service who reported back the work done over the period of Jan-Jun 2011.
According to the Prime Minister, we are back to the figures forecast by the CBA: “1.4% fall in prices means we are ushering in a stage of deflation to be continued over the couple of months ahead. Thus, inflation has averaged 3.5% since the beginning of this year.”
The government endorsed the proposal on making amendments to the corresponding agreement between the governments of Armenia and Russia under which 5 military units on the list of Armenia-stationed Russian base shall be handed over to Armenia.
The meeting backed the proposal on the use of the funds spared during implementation of the German Bank for Rehabilitation Loans-supported “Exchange of regional capacity – 1, Alaverdi-Gardabani transmission line rehabilitation project,” which is expected to enhance the overall reliability of the relay system operational between Armenia and Georgia thanks to better conditions available for telecommunication, remote control and data exchange.
Five persons, including two recruits of well-known foreign universities, were granted a mandatory army service holiday for different periods. The head of government said to be pleased with the fact their number has increased over the last couple of years.
“We can state that there is a keen competition in this field. Luys Foundation is going to earmark twice as many funds toward this end in 2011 and this figure will be up fourfold over the next two years to ensure an adequate relief for our intellectual and professional capacity.”
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Prior to the cabinet sitting, the head of government called at Aghavnadzor community to get acquainted with the Rural Economic Development PIU-supported gas installation efforts underway in Aghavnadzor and Arpi communities since May, 2010.
Tigran Sargsyan took the opportunity to meet with local population and get a first-hand view of those bottlenecks faced in the region.
