BY 2008 DRAFT STATE BUDGET, ALLOCATIONS FOR RECREATION, CULTURE AND RELIGION TO MAKE 14.6 BILLION DRAMS
Noyan Tapan
Oct 31, 2007
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, NOYAN TAPAN. By the 2008 draft state budget,
expenditures on recreation, culture and religion (without expenditures
on the central staff of state governance bodies) will make 14.6
bln drams against 16.1 bln drams in 2007. The reduction in these
expenditures is mainly conditioned by the completion of a number of
programs, as well as by a reduction of expenditures on capital major
repairs and construction and some one-off expenditures in 2007. At the
same time, an increase of about 1.1 bln drams (about 3.33 mln USD)
is envisaged in expenditures in the indicated sectors, mainly due
to an increase in salaries of cultural workers, as well as to new
initiatives and additional expenditures.
The RA minister of culture Hasmik Poghosian stated at the October 31
joint sitting of the RA NA standing committees that in forming the
budget of the sphere of culture, the government was guided by several
principles, paying special attention to a number of target programs,
including those on marz (regional) culture development, national art
and esthetic education.
Attention will also be paid to repairs and technical re-equipment of
libraries with the aim of creating powerful information centers. The
state budget envisages about 500 mln drams for repairs and design
of libraries.
Under this program, the repair and re-equipment work will be completed
at 3 libraries in Yerevan: the children’s library after Khnko Aper,
the Public Library and the Musicological Library, and at 10 libraries
in Armenian marzes.