40+10 program hinders implementation of long-term housing support for displaced Artsakh Armenians — Deputy PM

The rental assistance program (known as the 40+10 thousand drams assistance program) has deviated from its original purpose, turning into a form of temporary social support, which hinders the implementation of the long-term housing assistance program designed for individuals forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan said in an interview with Public TV.

According to him, the government launched a temporary housing assistance program back in October 2023, providing monthly support of 50,000 drams to each beneficiary. Over time, however, parts of the public began to perceive the program as an indefinite form of social support.

“There is a perception that this initiative, viewed as social assistance, has become a factor that leads people to rely on this support instead of participating in the long-term housing program, where we promise families their own right and offer 3-4 or 5 million drams per member to help them decide on a permanent residence. And we came to the conclusion that this temporary social housing assistance program has become an obstacle in the implementation of the long-term assistance program,” he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that, for this reason, the government decided in November 2024 to revise the program’s conditions. Beginning in April 2025, the support will be provided exclusively to vulnerable segments of the population, such as children, retirees, individuals with disabilities, and families that have lost their primary breadwinner. The assistance will amount to 40,000 drams per person from April to June and 30,000 drams per person from July until the end of the year.