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On October 31, financial allocations and budget programmes of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Police and National Security Service envisaged by the RA draft law on RA State Budget for 2023 were debated at the joint sitting of the NA Standing Committees on Defense and Security and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs chaired by Andranik Kocharyan and Gevorg Papoyan.

The RA Deputy Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan presented the budget revenues and expenditures of the above-mentioned power structures in numerical terms for 2023.

According to the RA Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Artyush Grigoryan, it is planned to allocate 16.451 million AMD to the Ministry instead of 13.978.5 million AMD in 2022. 13.399 million AMD will be allocated to the rescue services, 793.2 million AMD is planned for seismic protection. The purpose of this programme is to assess and reduce seismic risks. Artyush Grigoryan informed that targeted awareness activities are being carried out with the population regarding seismic safety.

17 million AMD is planned for capital expenditures, 16 million AMD for current expenditures. According to the Deputy Minister, 6 programmes will be implemented during 2023, which includes 14 measures. He assured that the rescue workers are regularly trained. Answering Andranik Kocharyan’s question related to the incident at the Surmalu market, the Deputy Minister noted that the production, import, and sale of fire-hazardous materials will be defined as a licensed activity with a legislative change.

431.6 million AMD is allocated for the Regulation of Technical Safety project in 2023. The goal of the project is the prevention of man-made accidents in the RA territory, the elimination of their consequences, the reduction of the risk of damage to the society and the economy caused by such accidents, as well as the protection of the population and the environment.

The goal of the Emergency Response Capacity Building project is the capacity building for emergency situations and crisis management, the organization of training for heads and specialists of state administration, local self-government bodies and organizations. The main problem task of the Crises Management State Academy is to develop the opportunities of the academy. It is planned to allocate 121.0 million AMD in 2023. The approved budget for 2022 was 114.8. million AMD.

The total allocations of the RA Police will amount to 76.201 million AMD in 2023 instead of around 65 billion AMD in 2021. The Deputy Head of the RA Police Ara Fidanyan noted that the planned allocations are mainly attributed to current expenditures. Capital expenditures will be 4.485.8 million AMD. Allocations under the Police Education Services project will amount to 1.565.9 million AMD, which has maintained the level of allocations of the current year. 2 programmes will be implemented in the Police, which includes 12 measures.

The Deputy Head of Police also presented the operational situation for the nine months of 2022 and emphasized that although a 27% increase in crimes was recorded, it is conditional due to a number of circumstances. Basically, the cases of murder, theft, robbery, car theft have increased. Ara Fidanyan emphasized the role and the importance of the petrol service introduced in the capital in 2021 in the prevention and detection of crimes. He informed that this service will be introduced in phases in the entire territory of the republic until December 2024. It was also noted that works are being carried out to create the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Instead of police troops, a police guard will be formed.

The speakers answered the deputies’ various questions, which were related to the problems of the sectors, financial allocations.

The financial allocations and budget programs of the defense and state reserves and the National Security Service provided for in the Law on the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2023 were debated at the joint sitting of the NA Standing Committees on Defense and Security and on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs.