The first meeting of the Public Council attached to the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia was held under the chairmanship of Vahe Hovhannisyan, RA Minister of Finance.
Representatives of civil society organizations, associations, and unions actively engaged in the sector and serving as members of the Council participated in the meeting.
During the meeting, Minister Hovhannisyan welcomed the participants and thanked them for their willingness to join the Council. The agenda items of the upcoming meetings and sectoral priorities were then discussed. The proposals presented by the participants were considered, after which discussions touched upon tax policy, the public procurement sector, as well as current issues related to the organization of the budgetary process.
The meeting was also attended by Karen Zadoyan, President of the Armenian Lawyers Association, who presented two important agenda items for the Council’s upcoming discussions.
Assessment of tax reforms. Karen Zadoyan proposed that one of the Council’s upcoming meetings discuss the outcomes of legislative amendments that transferred legal services from the turnover tax system to the general taxation system—specifically, advocacy services from January 1, 2025, and legal services from July 1, 2025—in order to assess whether the reform has been successful. In response, Minister Hovhannisyan noted that assessing the effectiveness of the reform is of great importance for the Ministry and expressed readiness to present a report on the results of the reform to the Council in order to draw the necessary conclusions.
Participatory budgeting. Karen Zadoyan also proposed extending participatory budgeting from the community level to the national level, including state and sectoral budgets. He further suggested allocating funds in the state budget for civil society organizations to improve the effectiveness of the budgetary process. As an example, he referred to the “Budgets for Citizens” program implemented by the Armenian Lawyers Association together with a partner organization with the support of the European Union.
The meeting was held in a question-and-answer format, ensuring an open and constructive atmosphere for discussion.