Armenian Prime Minister hopes for further development of past year’s success

YEREVAN, February 1. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan hopes for further development of the success Armenia showed in 2009.

“I am convinced that our success not only will become stronger, but also will develop,” he said Friday at the cabinet meeting. “I want to thank all for a good job in difficult 2009.”

He said that the reports ministers presented at recent cabinet meetings showed not only faults, but also achievements.

These reports, he said, helped outline top-priority objectives for 2010.

The premier singled out four areas as most successful in 2009.

The first was Armenian State Revenue Committee’s activities, which resulted in lessening overpays and leaving economy entities with additional AMD 25 billion.

Sargsyan said that 32,000 small and midsize entities enjoyed preferences totaling AMD 24 billion that year.

Tax accounting was simplified and AMD 3.7 billion was allocated in 2009 for paying bonuses to the country’s population on cash register check draw.

The second successful area the premier pointed out was public health, where the state policy of obstetrics has produced visible results – the number of childbirths rose by 3,000, and shadow dealing in this area lessened from 90% to 21%. .

Sargsyan also found social sector’s achievements remarkable.

“Amid 14-percent economic decline, we have managed to raise pensions by 16%, benefits by 12% and lump-sum benefit for third and next child birth from AMD 300,000 to AMD 430,000,” he said.

The premier called Armenian Police’s job very successful.

He said the number of traffic accidents has become significantly smaller for seven years.

In the Commonwealth of Independent States, this reduction was most impressing.

The prime minister stressed that the number of killed in traffic accidents was smaller than that of 2008 by 84, and the number of injured shrank by 372.

He said that it would be better to speak not only about our faults and the challenges the crisis has brought to the country, but also about achievements.

Sargsyan said that there were also other successful sectors in Armenia in 2009, but the mentioned sectors’ achievements have brought benefit to all Armenian families. -0—