At the November 30 sitting of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, the draft law "On Making Amendments to the Law on State Non-Commercial Organizations" initiated by the Government was discussed. It was presented by the Deputy Minister of Environment Gayane Gabrielyan.
According to the law, a capable adult citizen of the Republic of Armenia who has a higher education and at least three years of professional experience in the relevant field may be appointed to the position of an executive body, unless otherwise provided by law.
The Deputy Minister clarified that the established criterion of "at least three years of professional work experience in the relevant field" limits the scope of persons applying for the position of the executive body.
 At least 4 or 3 years of public service experience is required to hold the positions of Secretary General or Head of Department and Head of Division. It was noted that the positions of Secretary General, Heads of Departments and their Deputies, Heads of Divisions in the Civil Service System are comparable to the positions of Directors of SNCOs. Those positions may be filled by persons with relevant skills who are permitted to hold senior public service positions under the Law on Civil Service.
According to Deputy Minister Gayane Gabrielyan, the proposed changes will allow people with public service or professional experience to participate in the election (appointment) of executive bodies. The property attached to the state non-commercial organizations with the right of gratuitous use will be leased not by the decision of the Government, but in the manner approved by the decision of the Government.
The deputies of NA referred to the expediency of simplifying the criteria required for the director of the SNCO and filling the system with less experienced staff, the need to involve qualified specialists in the field. It was noted that the regulation on leasing the property attached to state non-commercial organizations with the right of gratuitous use in accordance with the procedure approved by the Government had not been made before due to a technical problem.
The Deputy Minister clarified that the initiative is aimed at expanding the circle of professionals applying for the position to encourage competition between specialists and the recruitment of new staff.
The initiative was approved by the commission.