

“EcoLur” Informational NGO has developed legislative and institutional recommendations on the introduction of a culture of socially and environmentally responsible practices into policies in the energy and climate change sectors.
The document was developed within the framework of “Affected Communities and Civil Society Organizations as Participants in the Implementation of Socio-Ecological Culture in Armenia's Energy and Climate Change Policy” project with the support of the UNDP/GEF Small Grants Program and EU4Climate Regional Program.
Studies conducted by EcoLur in 2023-2024 have shown that the policies of climate change and energy sectors implemented in Armenia are not sufficient in localized communities that are the direct bearers of these policies.
In order to settle the problems, 15 proposals for legislative and sub-legislative amendments were developed, which were sent to the Armenian government and relevant departments.
RA Finance Ministry has responded as follows:
“1. Regarding the proposed amendments and changes to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia: a) Regarding the proposal to grant local taxes to businesses operating in the territories of communities by community councils: That is, the current legislation provides opportunities for communities to make relevant decisions to increase their income. It should also be noted that recent legislative changes have been made, aimed at increasing the income of communities. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the current legislation defines numerous sources of revenue formation for communities, at the present stage, RA Finance Ministry is discussing the possibilities of fiscal decentralization in the Republic of Armenia, within which the possibilities of establishing new sources of income for communities are also being considered. The matter of the feasibility of imposing a carbon tax is under the attention of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia.
- Regarding the amendments to the order established by the Government of the Republic of Armenia on November 16, 2006, “On Approving the Procedure for the Provision of Subventions from the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia to Communities,” Decision No. 1708-N (hereinafter referred to as the Decision).
- It is proposed to make an amendment to the order established by the Decision, setting the criteria for community co-financing of programs aimed at state policies on climate change adaptation and mitigation, energy savings, and energy efficiency. In this regard, it should be noted that the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia has introduced a draft, proposing to make changes in the sectors of subventions provided to communities under the Decision. RA Finance Ministry has proposed, within the scope of the above-mentioned draft, to consider the possibility of implementing subvention programs in new environmental directions, with the growth of the income of community budgets resulting from the provision of subsidies to the community budgets (According to the 2025 state budget draft, around 98.2 billion AMD is planned for subsidies (an increase of 12.9 billion AMD compared to 2024), and 110.1 billion AMD for 2026. Community shares allocated to community budgets for settlement and community parts are planned at 1.6 billion AMD (an increase of 0.6 billion AMD compared to 2024), and 1.05 billion AMD is planned for environmental subventions for communities (an increase of 0.72 billion AMD compared to 2024))."
January 22, 2025 at 16:24