Armenian government to allocate 8.3 billion drams to fund scientific research in 2010

YEREVAN, November 4, /ARKA/. The Armenian government plans to allocate 8.3 billion Drams to fund scientific research next year, first deputy minister of finance Pavel Safarian said Tuesday during a parliamentary hearing on the 2010 draft budget. He said science spending has not been slashed and will remain on the 2009 level.
 
According to the deputy minister, the funds will be directed to three major research directions- fundamental, targeted and thematic. Some 5.2 billion Drams are earmarked to support fundamental research and 1.5 billion Drams will be spent on thematic or contractual research work.
 
According to Pavel Safarian, some 529 million Drams will be paid to scientists with academic degrees. The extra payment will be from 10,000 to 20,000 Drams.
 
According to the 2010 draft budget, the government plans to collect 676. 6 billion Drams of revenues, down from 772 billion projected for 2009. It also plans to spend 859.6 billion drams, of which 85.7% will be current expenditures. Tax revenues for 2010 are projected at 533 billion Drams, up from 510 billion, projected for 2009. M.M. -0-