The government approved another decision on community consolidation, presented at the cabinet meeting by Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Minister Davit Khudatyan.
“Through this project, we propose to merge nine communities comprising eight settlements and form three enlarged communities in three regions,” he said, according to Armenpress.
Under the proposal:
- Stepanavan community in Lori Province will include the current Stepanavan, Gyulagarak and Lori Berd communities, covering 20 settlements.
- Goris community in Syunik Province will include Goris, Tatev and Tegh communities, totaling 28 settlements.
- Yeghegnadzor community in Vayots Dzor Province will include Yeghegnadzor, Areni and Yeghegis communities, comprising 32 settlements.
Khudatyan added that once the reform is implemented, the total number of communities in Armenia will decrease from 70 to 64.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the consolidation process has not produced negative outcomes so far.
“On the contrary, in every case we see very concrete effects on the lives of communities and settlements and on their socio-economic situation. The subvention capacity of enlarged communities increases significantly and several times over,” Pashinyan said.
He also noted that the government must continue developing mechanisms to improve the efficiency of local authorities and maintain active communication with citizens about how the system operates.
