Armenian government releases about 2.35 billion drams for establishing Patrol Service in Lori and Shirak provinces

YEREVAN, March 17. /ARKA/. The Armenian government has. decided today to release about 2.35 billion drams to the Police to establish Patrol Service in Lori and Shirak provinces.

Police Chief Vahe Ghazaryan said that 289.9 million drams of this amount will be used to purchase 140 vehicles for the Patrol Service in both provinces, 67.2 million drams will used to equip the vehicles and about 1.67 billion will be used to purchase other equipment.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, stressed that the patrol service in Shirak and Lori regions will start operating from April this year. In the next stage, the service will be extended to Tavush, Kotayk, Gegharkunik and Aragatsotn regions.

Patrol Police, a police unit tasked with road policing, crowd control and street patrol, was established as part of a major structural reform of the national police service in 2020.

The reform was backed by the USA, EU, OSCE, UNDP and World Bank, which provided more than 5 billion drams in assistance to support it. They also pledged to provide assistance in the same volume in 2021 and 2022.

In 2021 February, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced the government's plan to create a ministry of interior as part of a major structural reform of the national police service.

Armenia had an interior ministry until former President Robert Kocharyan abolished it and turned the police into a separate structure subordinate to the president of the country.

The police became accountable to the prime minister after Armenia shifted to a parliamentary system of government in 2018. ($1 - 499.04 drams). -0-