ArmInfo. A meeting was held in the Government of Armenia under the leadership of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan to discuss issues related to the new order of food supplies to the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.
According to the Prime Minister's press service, the meeting was attended by: Minister of Defense David Tonoyan, Deputy Minister of Defense Makar Hambaryan, Onik Gasparyan, acting Head of the State Control Service, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and senior officials of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, representatives of local private sector organizations involved in the food supply process and other officials.
Opening the meeting, the Prime Minister pointed out the importance of holding it now, noting that this program was initially seen as an aid to the domestic market. "And especially in the current crisis, it is very important that we can not only effectively continue this program, but also have answers to all questions," Pashinyan said.
During the meeting, issues related to the introduction of a new order of food supplies to the Armed Forces were discussed. The results of the work of the Ministry of Defense, private sector organizations, as well as the results of studies conducted by the supervisory service on them are presented. Attention was concentrated on such issues as the development of effective mechanisms for the complete organization of the process, the formation of a complete service chain, existing problems and further steps.
The Prime Minister of Armenia noted that one of the priorities of the state is to develop an effective supply system of high-quality food products for the army, and this process should be organized as transparently as possible, without any abuse. In the context of further work, Pashinyan instructed to conduct the process through tenders, so that no one had any doubts about the legality and transparency of the bidding and there should be a systematic approach to solving existing problems. At the conclusion of the meeting, he gave a number of instructions.
To recall, the Armenian government at a meeting on February 21, 2019 approved a pilot program providing for the introduction of a public-private partnership mechanism in the country's armed forces. According to the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Makar Hambaryan, until today, the armed forces have been directly involved in issues related to the procurement, delivery and processing of food products for the army, which often led to problems and complaints. Now, while experimentally, a new system of procurement of goods has been introduced, taking into account all the existing risks. This, in particular, is about involving private companies in this process.