Program Worth 5.7 Billion Drams Delayed, Says 'Haykakan Jirav' Newspaper

According to the newspaper 'Haykakan Jirav', the launch of the Ecological Monitoring Service in Syunik has been postponed due to extensive renovations and refurbishments of administrative buildings for the Service in the region.

The State Forestry Service of the Soviet Union has transformed into the Ecological Monitoring Service after 30 years, which seems to be taking a heavy toll on the state budget. During the discussions on the draft state budget for 2025, Armenia's Minister of Environment, Hakob Simidyan, revealed that the establishment of the Ecological Monitoring Service has increased the budget of the Ministry of Environment by 38%.

The implementation of the Ecological Monitoring Service has cost the ministry 5.7 billion drams, which is nearly 147 thousand dollars. In an interview with 'Azatutyun', the head of the service, Vladimir Kirakosyan, stated that the ecological monitoring service, which was supposed to operate fully in the Syunik region, will not be operational by the end of this year. The timeline has been postponed until February 26 of the upcoming year.

The Ecological Monitoring Service has spent 58 million 504 thousand drams on the demolition and refurbishment of the administrative building in Goris city of Syunik regional administration, while 9 million 120 thousand drams have been allocated for the demolition and renovation work of the administrative building of the Ecological Monitoring Service in Yerevan.