Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan left for Tavush Province on a working visit. During the consultation held in Ijevan city, the Prime Minister was presented with the performance report 2022 of the regional administration.
Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, Head of the State Supervision Service Romanos Petrosyan, Governor of Tavush Hayk Ghalumyan and other officials took part in the consultation.
Administrative-territorial reforms were first presented to the Head of the Government. Accordingly, the number of communities before unification was 62, and after unification - 4. As a result of the unification, the number of personnel in local governments were optimized by 32 percent, the number of municipal civil servants by 14 percent, the number of members of Council of Elders by 52 percent, and the number of women mebers of Council of Elders increased by 115 percent. Training of 60 municipal civil servants was carried out. Salaries rose by 20 percent. The Prime Minister was also provided with information on the collection of own revenues of the communities.
Regarding the work carried out in the field of education in Tavush Province, it was noted that there are 23 primary schools, 4 high schools and 53 secondary schools, of which the physical condition of 32 is assessed as good, 31 as satisfactory, and 17 as poor. It was reported that programs were implemented in 31 schools at the expense of savings. 3 schools are being built in Dovegh, Kirants and Gandzakar, 2 schools are planned to be built in Navur and Gosh. Regarding the teacher certification process, it was reported that 809 out of 1,634 teachers in the region passed mandatory certification, 72 passed voluntary certification, 19 teachers are from the "Teach for Armenia" program.
Those in charge also presented details about the cultural and sports events and programs implemented in the region in the reporting year, cultural organizations operating in the region, emphasized the interest of citizens in the "Prime Minister's Cup of the Republic of Armenia" tournaments: running, cross-country running and table tennis.
Regarding pre-school institutions, it was reported that there are 63 kindergartens in the region, of which 59 operate under the community and 4 are private. It was reported to the Prime Minister that the physical condition of 56 community kindergartens is assessed as good and 7 as satisfactory. 2 new kindergartens were built in Ijevan in 2018-2022, 23 were repaired, 3 more are planned to be rebuilt in 2023. It was emphasized that the newly built and thoroughly renovated kindergartens are provided with the necessary property.
The Head of the Government was reported on the construction permits and investments made e in the field of urban development in 2019-2022, as well as financing of urgent capital projects (294.6 million AMD), which was used for health (6.9 percent) and school building (93.1 percent) purposes.
Within the framework of infrastructure improvements, it was presented that 19 water supply and drainage projects (1,384 million AMD), 23 gas supply projects (141.4 million AMD), 68 energy projects (1,407.4 million AMD), 11 irrigation projects (407.4 million AMD) were implemented.
Regarding road construction, it was reported that in the reporting year, 5 km of 153 km of interstate roads, 51 km of 361 km of republican roads, 34 km of 1207 km of local and community roads were repaired. Road construction budget for 2022 was 9.43 billion AMD.
With the funds of the Armenian Territorial Development Fund, 2 water supply projects (267.1 million AMD), 1 irrigation system repair project (12.48 million AMD), 1 school construction project (210.5 million AMD), 1 utility service improvement and 1 public transport network formation program (299.0 million AMD), installation program of 35 solar photovoltaic plants of 540.5 KW (148.6 million AMD) and 1 community technical re-equipment program (176.7 million AMD) were carried out in 2022.
Details on agriculture and land use were introduced, the state assistance programs in the agricultural sector for 2022 were reported. The projects covered the following sectors: winter wheat, subsidized loans, fertilizer program, intensive horticulture/drip irrigation, beef cattle farming, insurance schemes, sheep and goat farming, smart animal husbandry, raw material procurement credit, agri-food, rural leasing.
In terms of land use, it was reported that 1755.6 ha of state-owned land was leased, 1315.9 ha of community-owned land was leased, and there are 11412 ha of unused land in the bordering area. 800 million AMD were paid to the state and community budgets for the rent.
In the reporting year, 5333 hectares of land were cultivated in Tavush, which is by 250 hectares more than in 2021. During the previous year, a 230-hectare drip irrigation system orchard and a 53-hectare intensive orchard were established in the region. Compared to 2021, the programs for the establishment of intensive gardens have increased dramatically. Only 4 ha of intensive orchards were established during that year. The gross agricultural output was 46 billion AMD, which is by 600 million AMD more than in 2021.
The Prime Minister was also presented with the implementation of health care, medical equipment and property acquisition programs. Accordingly, medicines, medical freezers and refrigerators were provided, one ambulance, 6 oxygen concentrators, computed tomography for the Ijevan Medical Center were purchased, a hemodialysis department was established in the Ijevan Medical Center. 395 million AMD were invested for this purpose. Presenting the building conditions, it was noted that 22 of the medical facilities are in satisfactory condition, 2 are subject to repair, 4 are subject to reconstruction.
Nikol Pashinyan was also reported on the work done in the field of social security, external relations and international cooperation, including the implementation of joint programs with international and other structures.
Regarding the subsidy programs implemented in the Tavush region in the reporting year, it was reported that in 2018-2022 the total value of the implemented 63 subsidy programs was 6.86 billion AMD, of which the state budget share was 59.8 percent, the community's share was 34.8 percent, and other investors’ share was 5.4 percent.
There are 16 subsidy programs approved in 2022, the total cost is 4.3 billion AMD, of which the state budget's share is 2.4 billion AMD, and the share of communities is 1.9 billion AMD. As for subsidy programs of 2023, it was reported that 20 programs (6.1 billion AMD) were presented, of which the state budget share is 3.7 billion AMD, and the community share is 2.4 billion AMD.
During the consultation, the problems in the region were also touched upon, which refer to deforestation, garbage collection, availability of remote pastures.
It was also reported that the own budget revenues of the communities of Tavush Province last year amounted to 1.49 billion AMD compared to 1.34 billion AMD of the previous year.
It was noted that there are 6 Citizen Service Offices in the region, which operate on a one-window basis, providing various state services.
Summarizing the consultation, the Prime Minister noted that the key goal of community administration should be the increase of the budget revenues and consistent work should be carried out in that direction. At the same time, Nikol Pashinyan instructed the officials to take steps in order to increase the quality of service to citizens and create comfortable conditions so that the citizen does not have to leave his settlement to receive services.
The Head of the Government emphasized the expansion of subsidy programs in the communities of Tavush Province and emphasized the need to construct and carry out major repairs of kindergartens, schools, roads, and other capital projects. The importance of construction and maintenance of dirt roads with appropriate standards, development of road paving capacities was also noted.
Reference was also made to the activity of mines. The Prime Minister instructed those in charge, including law enforcement agencies, to fight consistently against illegal mining.
The Prime Minister also emphasized the importance of increasing the volume of rural lands in the region, the implementation of works in the direction of effective management of water resources, the introduction of drip irrigation systems, the establishment of intensive orchards, the improvement of the quality of home gardens and added that the regions should have strategies for the development of agriculture with the support of the Government. "It is necessary to move forward and develop agriculture with the introduction of high-value crops and new technologies. Our task is to make people live well doing farming activities, to be able to solve their social problems," said Nikol Pashinyan. The Head of the Government gave specific recommendations on the above-mentioned issues. The importance of exercising maximum control over the activities of slaughterhouses and points of sale was also emphasized.
Reference was also made to the fight against deforestation and the works carried out in that direction, the development of alternative energy, sports infrastructure and other issues.
The criminal situation in the region, the activity of the Patrol Service were reported to the Prime Minister, emphasizing that the number of car accidents has decreased especially due to the activity of the Patrol Service.
