YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The 2010 action plan of the Armenian government will be based on the lessons of 2009 and aimed at solving the existing problems. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan made this statement at the November 18 sitting in the National Assembly, when presenting the main directions of the 2010 draft state budget. He said the crisis has revealed the vulnerable points of the country's economy. The ecomomy has a low level of diversification, there is an acute lack of "long money" and the absence of intitutions working on it. The prime minister underlined that this circumstance reduces the possibility of diversification. Secondly, the Armenian economy is characterized by the existence of oligopolies and a low competition level. The prime minister considered the low flexibility of prices as a serious challenge to Armenia, adding that it results in a disproportionate distribution of the tax burden among economic entities. Thridly, the motivational mechanisms in the state government system are either absent or weak. Fourthly, the current mechanisms of financing the healthcare and education sectors are imperfect. The prime minister also pointed out the slow process of economic reforms to be accelerated by the government. In his words, the studies and social surveys show that the Armenian citizens "are concerned most of all about the problem of social justice, rather than about such issues as low pensions and salaries, unemployment, job creation, inflation, the exchange rate, even the problems of Nagorno Karabakh and the Genocide". "Everybody must enjoy equal protection of the law, regardless of their social position and incomes. This problem will be in the center of our attention," T. Sargsyan declared. He said this problems concerns first of all big business whose activities should be transparent in order to restore the trust of society. With this aim the government will present two important legislative initiatives. The first one is that 500 high-ranking Armenian officials will have to publicly present statements on their incomes and property, including the property of closely related persons. A single electronic register will be launched in Armenia and be available to all citizens. The second initiative - risk-based control by tax bodies means that in the first place, the work of big business should be transparent to the public, and the introduction of a compulsory audit institution is an important step for restoring and increasing the trust in big business.

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