Thursday, 30 June 2016
Government determined to do its utmost to assist Armenian citizens held up at Upper Lars border checkpoint and resume cargo transportations
A regular Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.
Before discussing the issues on the agenda, the Prime Minister referred to the situation in the Upper Lars, noting that the relevant ministers of the two countries are working together intensively. Then Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of international Economic Integration and Reforms Vache Gabrielyan gave details of the processes taking place in Upper Lars. The river Terek changed its course due to heavy rains that started on June 23 and flooded the 134-135 km of Stepantsminda-Lars road section.
Overland transportation has become impossible; trucks are traveling through the ports of Batumi and Poti-Novorossiysk automobile ferries. The situation is controlled by the Prime Minister and the Government. And as mentioned above, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Transport and Communications keep in touch with their Georgian and Russian colleagues respectively.
At the request of Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, the Government of the Russian Federation has allocated a plane for transportation of those citizens held up at the border checkpoints. 96 passengers have already been evacuated with a Vladikavkaz-Yerevan charter flight; 120 passengers will be transported today.
On June 27, the Varna-Batumi-Supsa regular ferry took 72 trucks to Novorossiysk. Those Armenia-bound trucks following the Novorossiysk-Varna-Batumi itinerary will arrive in Batumi on July 3. As of July 4, ferry tickets are available for Batumi-Novorossiysk destination.
Leased by Spayka Ltd, the first ferryboat to Novorossiysk-Poti has arrived in Novorossiysk with some 55 trucks awaiting a permit on the quay. Note that on June 30 Spayka rented a second ferry in Novorossiysk.
According to available information, 15-20 trucks are currently held up in Georgian, not including the ones that have not yet left the territory of Armenia or find themselves in the Armenian-Georgian border zone. Russia’s backlog is composed of 40 to 50 cars, but along the way there are many trucks near Vladikavkaz. Question is not only of Armenian vehicles. There several trucks pooled at Mineralniye Vody, near the cities of Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, about 10 thousand tons of apricots have already been exported, with additional five tons still to be exported.
We are urging all carriers to reserve a place on the ferry before going abroad in order to avoid possible accumulations. According to information available from the Georgian Regional Development and Infrastructure Traffic and Police Department, on June 30, about fifty percent of the flow of the river Terek moved back to the former course; work is still underway to that effect. A probe is to be made to assess the amount of time needed for complete rehabilitation of the road.
According to preliminary estimates, works will last for two to three weeks. In the meantime, the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Emergency Situations will keep in close touch with the population and their partners.
We are hereby urging all our citizens to carefully schedule their actions, following the development of events and, naturally, as appropriate, apply to our services, which have already been mentioned.
The Government will do its utmost to assist Armenian citizens held up at Upper Lars border checkpoint and resume cargo transportations,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
The Government made a decision to allocate 41,746.0 thousand drams to Shirak Marz administration with a view to assisting flood-affected citizens in Artik town. To remind, the community lost drainpipes, homes and other buildings, as well as farm animals and crops in a heavy rain-caused flood. Thus, AMD 22 million, 350 thousand will be allocated to the residents of damaged buildings. 2 million, 430 thousand drams will be allocated in compensation of the damage caused to livestock and crops. AMD 16 million, 965 thousand will be funneled toward cleaning the drainpipes.
Minister of Territorial Administration and Development David Lokyan gave details of the work carried out in Artik. He said to have left for Artik on the very first day of the disaster, followed by Prime Minister Abrahamyan who arrived on the spot the next day. The Minister pointed out that up to 4 million 600 thousand drams will be allocated for each damaged apartment in Artik, which is enough to provide for normal living conditions. The Minister further said that each affected household will be reimbursed 650 thousand and 1 million, 700 thousand drams respectively for lost farm animals and crops.
According to the Minister, restoration work is underway to eliminate the effects of the flood - gas supply, water supply, electricity. Construction equipment and machinery is working on the spot. Already completed is the cleaning of two or three streets. The Prime Minister stressed the need for providing detailed information to the public at large in order to avoid unnecessary speculations.
The Government decided to allocate money to Ararat Marz administration in order to solve the problems arising from the damage caused by a strong hailstorm and wind, as well as to build a playground and partially renovate the courtyard of Lusentag kindergarten in Verin Artashat community.
Within the framework of Hovik Abrahamyan’s working visit to Ararat marz, the farmers asked the Prime Minister to help install additional anti-hail stations. Thus, the need for anti-hail stations is as follows: Dvin (2), Verin Artashat (2), Hnaberd (1), Aygezard (1), 6 stations altogether.
The meeting next decided to allocate money to the Ministry of Agriculture in order to purchase agricultural machinery so as to ensure best implementation of farming activities in Hnaberd community of Ararat Marz. To address the problems of local residents and their families living in hostels for many years, the Government decided to donate the teacher house premises in Mastara village and the dormitory building at Moldovakan -70 in Yerevan to their current residents (6 families).
The Government approved a package of bills on amendments to the Law on Securities Market and several other laws and legal acts, aimed at reforming the legislation on abuse in the securities market. The package aims to make the market more transparent and reserved for foreign investors and market participants, establish effective instruments to combat fraud.
Hovik Abrahamyan highlighted the adoption of the package and noted that it is important as a tool for regulation of the securities market.
According to a government decision, Azad Pharmaceuticals LLC will be exempt from the requirement to pay customs duties for such technological equipment, constituent parts, components and raw materials as may be imported under its investment program in the priority sector.
KG Diamond LLC was granted an operator’s permit to carry out activities in Meridian free economic zone. The Government decided to revoke regulation is still present provisions on the requirement to submit documents signed by the companies.
Thus, companies will not have to pay a fee for ordering the seal, as well as to avoid excessive bureaucracy. In addition, owing to the decision, In the World Bank’s Doing Business report, the Registration of Companies index will rise from the 5th position to 3rd place, while the Distance from the top of the results indicator will increase by 1.84 percent, from 97,78 to 99.62 percent.
Under another decision, paperwork will be facilitated for mine operators, including the amount of time and the costs associated with the procurement of a corporate seal.
The Cabinet adopted a decision referred to as “On assigning property and assets free of charge,” which is necessitated by the first component of the “Improving transparency in the mining sector” program as signed between the Government Staff and the U.S. Agency for International Development. According to the reference note, in order to digitize and update the database of Republican Geological Fund SNCO, the Government Staff has purchased the equipment listed in the Annex to the Decision.
The Cabinet endorsed the proposal to sign an agreement between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan on mutual recognition of educational qualifications, academic degrees and titles on a parity basis. The meeting next approved the proposal to amend in the form of an exchange of notes the memorandum of understanding of June 21, 2009 between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Government of the United Arab Emirates “On exemption from entry visa requirement of holders of diplomatic passports.”
