The certificates cover about 25,000 displaced people who have acquired property in Armenia or have construction underway. A new employment program is scheduled to begin on 1 January 2027.
Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Welfare said on 9 November that 5,372 families displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh had used state housing certificates. The ministry had approved 9,042 certificates covering about 37,000 people.
Ministry adviser Gayane Gharagyozyan said the families who used certificates represent about 25,000 displaced people who have acquired real estate with state support or have construction underway. Using a certificate therefore does not necessarily mean a family has moved into a completed home.
The update comes as existing assistance is due to decrease next year and a replacement employment program approaches its launch on 1 January 2027. Armenia’s government approved that program on 22 October 2026, before the ministry’s latest update, Armenpress said.
Gharagyozyan said 1,462 families had money left on their certificates after using them, under a program that she said encourages balanced development across the country rather than property purchases in Yerevan. The balance can be used for renovations, furniture, household appliances or agricultural land.
A draft submitted for public discussion proposes extending the deadline for existing mortgage repayment assistance from 1 July 2025, to 31 December 2026. It would also let families use a remaining certificate balance to repay an additional mortgage.
A third proposed change would include children born into beneficiary families through 31 December 2027, with 3 million, 4 million or 5 million drams per child, depending on where the family lives. The changes remain proposals.
Edgar Bznuni, the ministry’s head of family social assessment and urgent social assistance policy, said an existing government decision extends assistance through June 2027. Beneficiaries are scheduled to receive 30,000 drams a month in January–March and 15,000 drams a month in April–June. The assistance program is scheduled to end in July 2027, while assistance for vulnerable families continues through December 2027.
A separate rent compensation program launched in July 2026 provides 40,000 drams a month per displaced family member for up to 10 years. It is available to eligible families of one to three people who have not used a housing certificate, meet criteria including age or disability requirements, and are on the social-housing waiting list.
The employment program scheduled to start on 1 January 2027 offers a one-time vocational training voucher worth up to 250,000 drams. Participants can use it within six months at organizations offering endorsed nonformal modular education and receive a certificate upon completion.
Employers who hire a voucher-trained, certified participant in the relevant occupation can receive reimbursement of income tax paid on that worker’s salary: 50% for the first three months, up to 25,000 drams a month, and 100% for the following three months, up to 50,000 drams a month. The worker receives 100,000 drams after three months with the same employer and another 200,000 drams after 12 months.
Employers must offer at least a three-month, full-time contract, subject to legal exceptions. Public-service bodies and organizations at least 50% owned by the state or a municipality cannot receive the employer support.
Eligible displaced applicants include people who left Karabakh in 2020 or 2023, are not employed in Armenia and have received no salary or equivalent payments in the preceding three months. Applicants must register and apply on e-work.am; eligibility will be checked against state databases before a voucher is generated in their account.
Ruzanna Pepanyan, the ministry’s head of employment programs, said declining demand and implementation problems prompted the replacement of an earlier training and work-experience program with one whose training areas will follow labor-market demand rather than being restricted to particular occupations. The earlier program, operating since 2024, enrolled approximately 1,800 beneficiaries in its first year against a target of 1,000.
Anti-Corruption Committee chairman Arthur Nahapetyan says the proceedings concern 10 people, while the preliminary investigation continues for another 11 defendants.
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Jonathan Reynolds proposes checks for businesses above a £350 million turnover threshold; companies that fail to comply could be forced to withdraw goods made with forced labor.
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Chairman Arthur Nahapetyan said the proceedings involved 799 defendants in January–September 2026, compared with 170 proceedings involving 431 defendants a year earlier.
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