ArmInfo. Another reference laboratory will appear in Armenia. On June 5, at the hearings in the country's parliament on the execution of the state budget of 2017, RA Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan stated.
According to him, the site for the future laboratory has already been selected, and construction will begin soon. The main task of the new laboratory will be to conduct research in the field of health care. At the same time, the country's medical centers will have to dedicate about 10% of their profits to support it, since they should be interested in the results of the research. The financial activities of the new structure will be monitored electronically. When identifying corruption risks, the laboratory may be deprived of a license. At the same time, the minister did not indicate the sources of financing for the new project, noting only that the new laboratory will be equipped with the latest technology and highly qualified personnel.
In Armenia the public perceives such laboratories as dual-use objects and it is connected with the USA. Back in 2016, with the financing of the Agency for Threat Reduction of the US Department of Defense, three similar laboratories were opened in the republic - in Yerevan, Gyumri and Ijevan. After their discovery, information was widely publicized in Armenian and Russian media that these laboratories can be used to create and produce biological weapons. The US announced the civilian designation of reference laboratories, but information about their dual appointment continues to be actively discussed in the Armenian media. The Ministry of Defense allocated about $ 15.5 million for the creation of reference laboratories in Armenia, of which $ 4.1 million was invested in the construction of a reference laboratory of the food safety department for especially dangerous pathogens of the RA Ministry of Agriculture, according to open sources, $ 9.8 million - to repair the laboratory of the National Center for Control and Prevention in Yerevan, and $ 1.7 million to purchase new equipment and furniture.