Arminfo, Armenia



The Armenian government from now on will deal with the issue of the
qualification of charitable programs

Yerevan June 20

Alexander Avanesov. The government of Armenia will now engage in the
qualification of charitable programs. Amendments to the law "On
Charity" were made at an extraordinary meeting of the National
Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on June 20 in the first reading.

According to the First Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of
Armenia Artur Hovhannisyan, before the adoption of the submitted
document, the Commission for the Coordination of Charitable Programs
was involved in determining the charity. But this structure, stressed
the deputy minister, can not be considered a state body. Now this
right will be granted to the government, which will be established by
the body, which is called upon to deal with issues related to charity.
Thus, the government will undertake the definition of the concept of
charity in order to minimize the possibility of obtaining benefits by
individual structures. "If an organization engaged in charity does not
want to use the benefits provided for charitable activities, then no
one can hinder it," the deputy minister underscored, adding at the
same time that the document presented does not reduce or widen the
circle of beneficiaries. "The principles, concepts of charity remain
the same, the law does not limit the implementation of charity. The
law says: dear patron, if you, while doing charity, are hoping for
something else - get a title from the president of Armenia, tax
privilege - the state will also support you, turn to we will see if
this program is charitable or not, and if you do not have the
expectation of this privilege, then you can continue your charity,
there are no obstacles for that," Artur Hovhannisyan stated.