Intermunicipal Unions Formation – Government of Armenia

Case Study Category: IMCCase Study Tags: Armenia, EU, Municipalities, and Resources

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  • The current situation of the municipal reform is related to the implementation of municipalities’ amalgamation program of the Government in Armenia. This program is directed to the provision of full implementation of local authorities` responsibilities at the whole territory of Armenia but not to decentralization of new powers. There were discussions before approving the Municipalities Amalgamation and Intermunicipal Unions Formation Concept by the Government of Armenia in 2011. The result of these discussions is reflected in the Concept, as IMU is not an alternative but a complementary to the amalgamation. It is mentioned in the Concept that small municipalities can’t cooperate, having lack of financial and other resources, only amalgamated municipalities can cooperate. The IMC objectives are:

    • Management and collection of local taxes, local duties and fees.
    • Water supply, sewerage, irrigation and their maintenance.
    • Management and collection of local taxes, local duties and fees.
    • Operation of municipal and inter-municipal public transport.
    • Reinforcement of the social assistance and healthcare.
    • Legal and normative obstacles.
    • Poor accessibility of services.
    • Lack of renovation and resources.
    • Increasing the efficiency, transparency, accessibility and accountability of local authorities.
    • Increasing the leadership capacity of their elected representatives, promoting effective provision of services to citizens.
    • Support to central governments and local authorities in the improvement of financial and human resources management of local administrations based on European standards and benchmarking processes.

  • Report - Mapping the obstacles to Intermunicipal Cooperation in Armenia

  • Municipal associations rather prefer the establishment of IMC or IMU than municipalities’ amalgamation. Their representatives think that these associations are ready to change their status and became IMUs. This is related with the corporative interest of these Associations because some of them will be closed after amalgamation.