Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Ministry of the Environment today to discuss the current and upcoming departments.
Before the discussion, Prime Minister Pashinyan touched the importance of the sphere: "Environmental issues are put in the 21st century very acute, and it must be said right that any activity of a person, civilization in a whole in a sense is an anti-ecological phenomenon. Modern civilization believes that the rational use of natural resources is inevitable, and the use of these natural resources should indeed be rational, so that the effects of environmental damage were manageable. This, of course, if we speak very straight, very bitter statement, but it has no alternative. Consequently, the main task of the Ministry of the Environment is to achieve this accurate balance and monitor its observance.
Of course, it must be said that, unfortunately, for these criteria we cannot say that our country is in perfect position or even in the situation we would like, we have very serious problems here. However, on the other hand, we cannot stop, so to speak, economic and civilized activities in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. I understand that the examples that I cite are sometimes very sharp, very grotesque, but this is a building in which we are now, caused a certain damage to the environment - from construction and planning stage and until today, when it is worth it. In the end, we will not forget that once there was a virgin nature, we will not forget that the stone that was extracted from the mines was selected from nature, building materials, pipes, wood - everything was selected by nature. But these primitive arguments are very important that we can correctly position themselves in relation to nature, realizing that irrational use can lead to irrelevant damage. However, income and profits from the use of natural resources can also be seriously invested in the restoration of nature and the preservation of the environment. You, dear colleagues, do a daily fulfillment of these complex tasks, and today will be happy to listen to your plans, daily work, successes and problems. "
Minister of Environment Romanos Petrosyan presented current reforms in this area. Among them are primary importance to complex programs aimed at restoring the ecosystem of Lake Sevan, within which the dismantling of buildings, the removal of construction waste and the development of fish stocks is envisaged. The Minister noted that in this connection:
● For two weeks, the process of dismantling about 1600 buildings and illegal unfinished structures located in the area below 1903.5 m are also exported by construction trash. Dismantled and exported from the territory of three dozen of such builds to be demolished. Works continue.
● The results of the first stage of the industrial pilot project on Sigi's breeding in Lake Sanaa are summarized. Within the framework of this project, active work is underway to prevent illegal fish mining, a decrease in cases of fish embezzlement by 75-80% have been recorded. From September to December 1, 2020, there was a ban on fishing, about 265 beneficiaries through quotas and within the law circulated about 205 tons of Sigi. Thus, entrepreneurs were also able to continue to export. The second stage of the program provides for an increase in the plank to reduce cases of illegal fishery with almost the same amount of fishermen quotas as industrial fishing. In the near future, the Government's decision to launch the second stage will be presented.
In response to the issue of the Prime Minister, it was reported that in 2021 the highest indicator of the water level in Lake Sevan was registered over the past 5 years, and the current situation has a positive dynamics compared to last year. In the context of the effectiveness of integrated programs for the restoration of the ecosystem of the Lake Sevan and the rise in the water level, Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the importance of consistent digitization of both current and projected data. "The presence of a digital model will increase the efficiency of work," said the Prime Minister, having guaranteed to work in this direction.
Then the Prime Minister was reported on programs implemented in the field of forest conservation, reforestation and forest protection. In this context, the activities of the Armed Forces "Armis" was presented during the reporting period. It was noted that at present, in two forest farms, a self-sufficient model of pilot management is being introduced, which involves the implementation of the production and economic component of building materials and wood exclusively by means of "Armis", i.e. SNO will implement all the wood blank at its own expense by attracting additional workforce. According to the minister, in this area a large shadow turnover was revealed, criminal proceedings were initiated. As a result of a reduction in inflated jobs in the industry, the introduction of a new model of savings and management from March 1 of this year is planned to increase the salary of about 970 employees of Armis. The amount of savings amounted to 271 million drams.
The Prime Minister also reported on the illegal deforestation of forests, which, according to responsible persons, is still a significant amount. It was noted that the possibility of reforming the forest management model by introducing a round-the-clock security service with the economic component. In this context, issues of interaction between government bodies performing supervisory functions were discussed. As for the reforestation, in 2020, 123 hectares were restored, in 2021 it is planned to increase the volume of seedlings 3 times. In this regard, a project for landing 10 million trees in Armenia was raised, which was postponed due to the epidemic and war. Details of the project implementation this year were discussed.
The head of the government was also reported on work in the field of fauna protection and fighting poaching. It was noted that it is planned to record animals and the creation of a cadastre system. Significant changes will be made to the sphere of hunting with the prospect of the development of hunting farms. Work has already begun on the review of previously issued permits for the management of rich wildlife territories, 16 thousand hectares will be restored as a result of the government's decision, and this process will be long.
During the meeting, the issue of effective management of water resources, an underground pool and deep wells of the Ararat Valley was raised. Prime Minister Pashinyan instructed to discuss existing problems in the format of the interdepartmental working group and make proposals for their decision.
The activities and programs of the subordinate to the Ministry of Structures were presented: the Forest Committee, the SNO "Center for Hydrometeorology and Monitoring", GZA "Avia Metorological Center" Zvartnots "," Reserve-Park Complex ".
In particular, it was reported on the reforms conducted, upcoming steps, measures to improve the efficiency of management and quality of services. It was reported that in the near future, a system of online tickets will be introduced in the State Reserve "Joshrovsky Forest", which, if successful, will be implemented in other structures of the ministry. The process will begin in mid-March.
The functions of the Ministry, state, structural reforms and the personnel replenishment process were also affected.
Work was also presented on the improvement of public beaches of Lake Sevan and improving the provision of services. It was noted that 15% of the revenues of companies operating in public beaches will be paid to the National Park "Sevan", which was not before. As an additional income, this will contribute to the implementation of integrated programs.
Nikol Pashinyan noted that it is necessary to introduce the standards for the provision of services and organize work on this principle. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of consistent active work in the field of environmental protection, properly performing control functions, and also noted the need to introduce electronic systems.