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Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan on Saturday visited Armavir Marz to get acquainted with the activities carried out in individual sectors under Marz development programs, as well as to discuss the tasks set for 2018, the government’s press service said.

Governor of Armavir Marz Ashot Ghahramanyan reported that within the framework of investment and credit-supported development programs, 23.3 billion dram-worth investment programs were implemented in 2017 against the total project cost of 10 billion drams in 2016. The 2018 annual investment plan envisages 62.6 billion drams of capital investment.

As a result of the investment, 300 jobs were created in 2016, 652 - in 2017, while it is planned to provide 1450 permanent jobs in 2018. According to the Governor, the private sector carried out investment programs of 14 billion drams last year. This year investments of 35.9 billion drams are envisaged in SME, agribusiness, tourism, gasification, energy, urban development. The number of tourists visiting the province reached 117,000 in 2017, against 61839 in 2016, and this figure is expected to grow by 15% in 2018.

The actual revenues of the local community budgets amounted to 7,143,948.5 thousand drams in 2017 (100.1% of the projected), and their own revenues amounted to AMD 2,628,683 thousand (100.5% of the planned). As compared to the annual indices registered of 2016, own revenues were increased by 582,308 thousand drams in 2017.

In 2018, the total amount of communities’ local budget revenues rose to 7,207,680.5 thousand drams, own revenues – 2,778,957 thousand drams. In 2018, the communities’ own revenues totaled 150.3 million drams as compared to 2017. In 2016, per capita income made 7675 drams, in 2017 - 9889 drams, and in 2018 it is expected to reach the mark of 10470 drams.

The prime minister expressed satisfaction with the own revenue collection indicators in Armavir Marz. “The reported growth of own revenues in 2017 is very good and we should thank our team and community leaders. But we also understand that Armavir Marz is one of our richest regions, and we have provided 3,133 million drams for your own income, based on the formula and indicators that we had formulated in the average national indexes. In view of the above, you must review your own revenue index, especially as we have clear indications of where you should be more careful. You may know that we have set new rules of subvention, and we will henceforth stand by those communities making greater contributions.”

Ashot Ghahramanyan emphasized that several large-scale projects related to greenhouses, drying and refrigeration farm, orchards and processing plants have been implemented in the agricultural sector over the past few years. There are 1590 units of tractors in the region. In 2017, 15 tractors were leased under the financial leasing program. It is expected to get 10 more units of agricultural machinery during this year.

The governor advised that 22 hectares of intensive orchards had been established in Armavir last year, and in 2018 it is planned to set up 410 hectares of orchards. Investments from State-run, international, donor organizations and private investors made about 2.5 billion drams in 2016; this index was 4.7 billion drams in 2017 and 5 billion drams - in 2018.

It was reported that according to the communities and private investors, the newly created and expanded capacities of the agrarian sector in 2018 were collected, as a result of which 72 subjects of 20 communities will invest about 5 billion drams, creating 790 jobs.

“The minister of agriculture has reported to me about the State support programs in the field of cattle breeding. They will have roughly the same content as other agricultural projects: 2% interest rate for drip irrigation systems, 5% for intensive orchards, 2% for agricultural equipment, 3% for purveyances and so on. In the same way, we will develop a subsidy system for cattle-breeding,” PM Karapetyan underscored.

The agricultural sector supervisor of the Marz reported that many have benefited from these programs and have already started implementing different projects.

“We are extremely interested in having successful agronomists and farmers: we want to raise the tide so that many successful farmers come out to spread the “infection” conducive to thriving business,” the Head of Government said.

The volume of construction made 25.3 billion drams last year against 10 billion in 2016. The growth was 15.3 billion drams or 2.5 times as compared to 2016. In response to the prime minister’s question, the governor’s representative reported that 190 construction permits were issued in the period under review, 60 more than in 2016.

Mr Karapetyan considered insufficient the volume of construction permits and underlined that the indices are very low as compared to other Marzes. The Head of Government instructed them to activate work in that area and stimulate the development of construction, paying greater attention to the registration process, simplification of building permits, etc.

With reference to waste management, Ashot Ghahramanyan reported that the overall number of landfills is 171, the number of active dumps is 46, the number of closed landfills is 125, and the number of the ones to be closed is 5.

In 2017, the revenues from garbage collection payments amounted to 193.58 million drams, including AMD 162.4 million from individuals, 31.18 million drams from legal entities, and cleaning and garbage disposal costs amounted to 349.8 million drams, of which AMD 286.8 million was spent for garbage disposal. Waste collection charges accounted for 55.3% of garbage disposal costs. In 2018, 248.51 million drams of garbage collection payments were planned, and the cleaning and garbage disposal costs - 472.7 million drams, of which AMD 388 million will be used for waste management purposes.

“The revenues and expenditures in the field of waste management should be comparable," Karen Karapetyan emphasized and instructed to complete the process of signing relevant contracts with legal entities and reconsidering refuse collection fees in some communities.

The healthcare officials informed that the financing of 5 medical centers under regional administration amounted to AMD 1,978,635 thousand, revenues from paid services – 338,889.8 thousand drams. Revenues from paid services made 17.1% against the State Order receipts. Paid services increased by 26.7 million drams or 8.6% as compared to 2016. The total amount of paid service receipts will make 462 million drams this year.

Karen Karapetyan noted that the targets set for paid services were inadequate and instructed those responsible to review the estimates. At the same time, the prime minister urged to actively discuss the possibility of handing over part of medical centers for concession management.