Today, the Deputy Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Arayik Harutyunyan, chaired a meeting of the National Minorities Affairs Committee. The meeting focused on discussing various controversial topics from the previous meeting agenda. Specifically, the committee members approved changes made to the committee’s work structure during the past period.

During the meeting, Vahe Terteryan, the regional governor responsible for territorial administration and urban development, highlighted the financial resources allocated from the state budget to support national minority communities in Armenia by 2024. It was noted that starting from 2021, communities that were not previously involved in integration programs have participated in suburban programs. In 2021, 6 programs were implemented, followed by 7 programs in 2022, 9 programs in 2023, and a proposed 8 programs in 2024. The “Financial Inclusion Act” played a vital role in the financial integration of these communities in the 2024 state budget. An amount of 50 million AMD was allocated for this purpose, benefiting communities that had not participated in integration efforts and had smaller populations.

Additionally, there are three major programs planned for 2024. These include construction works for the Farik residential complex in the Kotayk region budgeted at approximately 150 million AMD, urban development of the Ovezan suburb in the Aragatsotn region with a budget of about 100 million AMD, and gasification works for the Shamiram community, allocating approximately 400 million AMD. Overall, a total of 1.8 billion AMD has been allocated for programs implemented between 2021 and 2024. Of this amount, 914 million AMD was used for the financial inclusion of territorial communities, while 585 million AMD was allocated for community integration programs. Furthermore, other funds have been allocated for various projects.

Arayik Harutyunyan emphasized the importance of these discussions, which address issues related to national minority communities in both integrated and non-integrated areas. Other questions raised by committee members were also discussed during the meeting. Arayik Harutyunyan suggested that urgent questions should be submitted in written proposals to be included in the agenda of future meetings.