1 / 1

At the joint sitting of the NA Standing Committees on State and Legal Affairs and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, the RA NA Chief of Staff, Secretary General Davit Arakelyan presented the execution of the NA 2023 budget.

In the financial year, the approved budget of the National Assembly was 7.067.172.500 AMD. In order to ensure the normal activity of the Staff, inter-departmental redeployments were carried out.

In 2023, 163.800.000 AMD was allocated to the National Assembly by a series of decisions of the Government to finance the unplanned events. The Parliament redistributed about 29.000.000 AMD to the Government’s reserve fund at the expense of allocations in the reporting year for the financing of the expenses considered priority by the Government.

The adjusted budget of the National Assembly for 8 events was 7.205.057.300 AMD, the cash register expenditure was 6.944.533.100 AMD. As a result, the budget was fulfilled by 96.4% and the deviation between the specified budget and the cash register expenditure was 260.524.200 AMD, which was also transferred to the state budget.

Compared to 2022, the 2023 cash register expenditure has increased by 911.671.400 AMD (15%) due to the change in the base salary of the persons holding public positions and public service positions in 2023, as well as the expenditures made within the framework of the NA building conditions improvement measure.

Davit Arakelyan detailed the measures implemented by the legislative body.

The specified budget of the event Assurance of the RA NA activities, legislative, analytical and representative services was 6.239.917.000 AMD, the cash register expenditure was 6.050.863.400 AMD, the budget was fulfilled by 97%. As a result of cost reduction and efficient implementation, 189 million AMD was saved by a number of articles of the economic classification of the budget expenditures.

Compared to the previous year, the cash register expenditure of 2023 has increased by 795.089.600 AMD, which is due to the amount of the base salary of the persons holding public positions and public service positions, as well as representative expenses, in particular, the holding of the Autumn Meeting of the OSCE PA.

The specified budget for the event Training of the Civil Servants of the Staff of the RA National Assembly was 1.292.900 AMD, the cash register expenditure was 500.000 AMD. 36 civil servants were trained. The budget was fulfilled by 39%.

60.015.000 AMD was planned for the event Implementation of measures aimed at increasing the role of the RA National Assembly, the cash register expenditure was 54.238.900 AMD, the budget was fulfilled by 90%. 5.776.100 AMD was saved as a result of the implementation of the measures.

In this context, the Head of the NA Staff mentioned the organized events, among which are the event dedicated to Children’s Protection Day, 55 students from Yerevan and the regions (marz) participated in the traditional summer school. Systems for collecting opinions and electronically queuing up citizens have been introduced.

As a result of the above-mentioned measures, the degree of awareness of the RA NA as a state structure among the public has increased, making 58% instead of the previous 36%.

The adjusted budget for membership fees of the RA to international parliamentary organizations amounted to 144.825.500 AMD, the cash register expenditure was 128.101.100 AMD, the budget was fulfilled by 88%, the deviation is conditioned by the change in the exchange rate.

The specified budget of the event Support to Parties and Alliances of Parties was 520.733.700 AMD, the cash register expenditure was 520.732.500 AMD, the budget was fulfilled by 100%.

127.375.000 AMD was allocated for the purchase of administrative equipment under the event Improving the technical equipment of the RA NA. Due to tender procedures, 17.212.600 AMD was saved.

107.813.400 AMD was planned within the framework of the measure Improving the RA NA building conditions. The cash register expenditure of the mentioned measure was 76.850.000 AMD, or the budget was fulfilled by 71% due to savings in purchasing processes. Within the scope of the measure, the NA Staff carried out capital repair of 4 elevators of the main building, modernization of the building's security video system and replacement with new ones, modernization of the fire-fighting system of the buildings, renovation of the sitting halls of 4 Committees of the new building.

Davit Arakelyan underlined that cooperation with the international partners is continuing and deepening. This year another 3-year cooperation memorandum was signed with the UNDP. According to him, for the first time the Parliament, as a state body, will contribute to this programme.

The Chair of the Standing Committee on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Tsovinar Vardanyan underscored with satisfaction the fact that significant reforms had been implemented in the Parliament. In this regard, she emphasized the importance of the development of the capacities of the NA Staff as a result of the technical re-equipment of the sitting halls and the cooperation with the international partners.

In the Q&A session, the MPs referred to the quality assurance of the implemented works, the requests aimed at increasing the role of the National Assembly, the measures aimed at strengthening the professional skills and capacities of the NA Staff. The steps aimed at making the work in the NA Staff more attractive were highlighted.