ArmInfo. Acting Minister of Territorial Administration of Armenia David Lokyan and Acting Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan will retain their portfolios in the new government of Armenia, Secretary of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Faction Aghvan Vardanyan told reporters on September 26.
Vardanyan noted that Acting Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan will also remain in the government, but he will head the Ministry of Nature Protection. "Minasyan's intellectual skills will let him effectively work in that position," he stressed, adding that there are no discrepancies between the ARFD and Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan.
"We had a meeting with Karapetyan and thoroughly discussed his proposals and programs. His approaches are unacceptable to us and we welcome his reforms," Vardanyan said. He added that Karapetyan wants to see a person with business experience as the minister of economy. "It does not matter to ARFD how many portfolios it will have. The most important thing is that the problems should be settled and the fight against corruption and shadow economy should be actively continued," he stressed.
To note, after signing a document on political cooperation with the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, ARFD received portfolios of three ministries - territorial administration, science and education, and economy.
To note, on September 22 the Government underwent structural changes. The Ministry of Economy was renamed into Ministry of Investments and Entrepreneurship Promotion. Tourism, telecommunications and aviation sectors will no longer be parts of the Ministry of Economy. A new tourism department is being set up to manage the sector of tourism, while the sectors of telecommunications and aviation will be included in the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Telecommunications. According to media reports, Artsvik Minasyan will become the minister of nature protection.