Prime minister holds consultation on Control Chamber checks

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan held a consultation, at which the chairman of Armenia’s Control Chamber presented the results of checks in several spheres.

The participants discussed the violations and shortcomings revealed during checks and made proposals on their elimination, according to the press office of the government.

The prime minister instructed the heads of departments to eliminate the shortcomings as soon as possible and also to submit comprehensive proposals for prevention of such violations in the future. The participants discussed the issue of calling those responsible to account, up to their dismissal and also the start of criminal cases in case of need.

The checks in healthcare sector revealed cases of unfounded delays in examination and treatment of patients in clinics and inefficient use of state budgetary funds as a result.

The health minister said that new mechanisms of financing are being developed. Their introduction will prevent payments based on unreliable information as well as other risks indicated by the Control Chamber.

As regards medicine procurement, the minister said that in some cases direct purchases of drugs (insulin) were made, which allowed the ministry to save considerable budgetary funds.

Issues related to maternity leave and temporary disability allowances and specific cases of violations were addressed during the discussion concerning social sphere.

Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs was instructed to develop a package of legislative amendments aimed at eliminating those shortcomings and ensuring social justice.

The governors, Yerevan mayor, and the health ministry received instructions to exercise strict control over the issuance of disability documents.

Issues related to town-planning norms and extra costs were discussed. The minister of urban development was told to pay attention to improvement of technological normative documents and rectification of the shortcomings revealed by the Control Chamber.
The current mechanism of providing sub-loans to farmers and organizations was also addressed. The mechanism of proving loans to farms at high interest rates (up to 24%) was considered inadmissible.

The prime minister gave instructions to conduct negotiations with international organizations and to review the current mechanisms of crediting to provide farms with cheaper resources.