The National Assembly of Armenia has approved in the first reading a package of bills tightening penalties for a number of crimes related to the illegal circulation of narcotics.
The draft proposes harsher punishment for producing, preparing, processing, acquiring, storing, transporting, delivering, distributing, advertising, and selling drugs for the purpose of sale, particularly when carried out via information technologies such as Telegram channels. The penalty would increase from 3–6 years to 4–8 years of imprisonment, according to 1lurer.am .
For selling drugs to minors or involving minors in drug trafficking, the proposed sentence would rise from 3–6 years to 6–12 years in prison.
MP Artsvik Minasyan from the Hayastan faction said they supported the draft but expressed hope that penalties would be revised between the first and second readings.
The parliament also adopted in the first reading a draft law establishing equal rights and freedoms for foreign and domestic investors, presented as a framework law. It eliminates potential discrimination through two key principles: a national treatment regime, granting foreign investors rights, freedoms, and obligations equal to local investors, and a most-favored-nation regime, ensuring all foreign investors receive equal treatment under similar conditions in Armenia.
Minasyan also noted that they voted against this particular draft, arguing that in its current form it contradicts investment attraction policies, while expressing hope for revisions before the second reading.
Lawmakers additionally approved in the first reading a draft introducing a new performance evaluation system within the police, which will generate annual overall assessments measurable at both individual and structural unit levels.
Another draft adopted in the first reading aims to reduce the tax burden in the jewelry sector by creating a more favorable tax environment for goldsmithing and diamond processing, including preferential value-added tax regulations.
