ArmInfo."It is necessary to make clear demands, criteria, and those who do not really meet these criteria, say that they were going, were engaged in another matter.But to say that I came to bring their people is a disastrous approach.
Then you will depend on those people , but not these people from you, "Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated at the final session of the conference on local self-government and territorial administration, which is being held on December 8-9 in Dilijan by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development and public organization "Union of Armenian communities."
According to the press service of the head of state, in his speech the president, in particular, expressed regret at the fact that local government elections are not given the attention that they rightly deserve. "Maybe because the Armenian political forces are poorly represented at the community level and believe that these elections are secondary, but politics, first of all, at the local level," he said. The President reminded that today instead of the previous 465 communities there are already 52 enlarged communities. In many communities, as a result of the enlargement, a more competitive council of elders formed, the meetings became more interested and focused.
At the same time, there is a redistribution of staff, as a result of which repeated staff units are replaced by new service providers. According to him, in some communities this process is not going on, for unknown reasons. "Although there are one or two of them, it is very necessary to complete this process very quickly, and it is absolutely not necessary that the head of the elected enlarged community decide that he changes all the old village elders and appoints people who, it seems, are more reliable and more effectively managed. I have changed several ministries, I was appointed to different ministries, and when I came to the ministry, I never told my deputies or the heads of departments that they should write statements and leave because I'm not a ho I need to make clear demands, criteria, and those who do not really meet these criteria, say that they were going, were engaged in another business. But to say that I came, I must bring my people-this approach is disastrous. depend on those people, and not these people from you, "- said the president. Serzh Sargsyan said that he is aware that not all the shortcomings in this regard have been eliminated. "Nevertheless, we are on the right track," he said.
The head of the republic said that during this meeting he presented his vision of local self-government and territorial management. "In the strategic plan, our goals have not changed: a free and independent Armenia must be a country of strong and organized communities," he said, stressing that the program of integration of communities will continue slowly. "Our goal is not to weaken strong communities, but to strengthen them, creating parallel opportunities for smaller and weaker communities," Sargsyan said. "I've heard a lot from representatives of the financial sector, including international financial institutions, that funding can always be found with ambitious and realistic programs in our communities, institutional opportunities for their transparent implementation." Many of the community leaders believe that their communities have good ideas I hope that as a result of today's discussions, the opportunities to reduce these ideas to the brink are more understandable, "the president emphasized.
Adoption of new approaches to financing and development, according to Serzh Sargsyan, will strengthen the independence of the communities. In this respect, a good example is the high rating given by Fitch to the community of Yerevan, the results of which we already see. The city of Yerevan, as the president recalled, has already signed a specific agreement on obtaining the first financial resource from financial structures - without the mediation of the state budget and state guarantees. "Of course, this does not mean that in such circumstances, communities should take over the burden, which will then sink them, but getting logically sound, with favorable terms loans and their mastering - is very important for us. I am sure that these approaches can also be implemented in many other communities, thanks to the cooperation of small communities and the consolidation of their efforts, as well as the introduction of clear criteria and regulations, "said Serge Sa gsyan.
As the head of state noted, in order to successfully continue and implement the processes of providing additional powers to the communities, decentralization, it is necessary to develop and implement numerous retraining programs. "In the field, it is necessary to create human resources and professional opportunities that will properly implement the powers already given," he said, adding that innovative approaches to the development of communities and the attraction of private investments must be adopted.
Heads of regional administrations, prefects, representatives of the Central Bank, the Territorial Development Fund of Armenia, as well as the programs of the "Mayors' Agreement - East", "Mayors for Economic Development" programs took part in the conference that took place on December 8-9 in Dilijan. , energy efficiency in communities and other programs. Within the framework of the agenda, issues of local self-government and territorial administration of Armenia were discussed, it was about the implementation of economic development programs in marzes and communities, the course of administrative and territorial reforms, and the process of consolidation of communities. Representatives of the Central Bank in their speeches presented opportunities for community development, financial participation, and the attraction of alternative sources of financing. Minister of Territorial Administration and Development David Lokyan summed up the results of the community conference, spoke about the problems of the sphere, after which the leaders of a number of enlarged communities presented the achievements of one year of activity, recorded successes, existing problems and proposed solutions.