7 Billion 334 Million Drams Allocated to Artsakh Residents

The Government of Armenia decided in today’s session to allocate 7 billion 334 million drams to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs for the support of citizens registered or residing in Artsakh. This support includes a monthly assistance of 68,000 drams for June 2021, as well as monthly financial aid for certain beneficiaries for the months of March to May.

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that following known events and hardships, one of the first tasks of the Government has been to restore normal life in Artsakh as much as possible, to provide social support to the people, and to prevent social collapse. “We are discussing with the President and Cabinet of Artsakh that we need to transition to development programs, programs that encourage work, and programs that boost economic activity,” he noted.

Pashinyan inquired about the current situation from Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, who responded that efforts are being divided into three blocks. “In the social block, we have actually spent 61.8 billion drams. Due to known reasons, the tax revenue of Artsakh's budget has decreased by more than 90 percent, and we can today say that the beneficiaries of our social measures are all our compatriots from Artsakh. I can also state that approximately 104,000 beneficiaries are utilizing the measures for the fourth time already. The logic of social measures will amount to about 80 billion drams because we have the principle that the rent reimbursement measure will operate as long as we can provide housing for our displaced compatriots,” Grigoryan said.

The second block pertains to the financial obligations of the Artsakh Government and compensations for legal entities' property damages. “We approved a tool that allows us to maximally effectively resolve this issue. The impact of that tool on our budget flows will amount to up to 10 billion drams annually, but it will work for years,” he added.

The third block addresses the issue of housing provision, for which approximately 104 billion drams must be mobilized, indicating that the Government’s expenditure over three years would be around 52 billion drams. “In summary, I would like to say that all social measures are underway—housing provision measures are still in the development phase. I believe it will be among the first solutions on the agenda of the Government’s next session. Final decisions regarding the format for compensating property damages of physical persons remain to be decided. We and the Artsakh Government are doing everything possible to ensure that the social needs and requirements of our compatriots are maximally compensated,” he concluded.