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From 18 to 24 August, the DeaLoG project, together with the Communities Association of Armenia, held four regional workshops on fiscal decentralisation — in Aghveran, Dilijan, Aparan and Goris. Community heads and officials responsible for finance, along with representatives of the relevant ministries, gathered around the table for dialogue to discuss the progress of the reform and the challenges facing communities.
Fiscal decentralisation is one of the main pillars of the DeaLoG project's work. The project has developed a detailed analysis of the current situation and gaps in fiscal decentralisation in Armenia, examining local taxes, intergovernmental transfers, public financial management at the local level, and the functions and powers assigned to communities. The workshop series was designed not to present this analysis as a finished document, but to put it forward for discussion, validation and further input from the stakeholders it directly concerns.
Each workshop was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, as well as the Executive Director of the Communities Association of Armenia. The fiscal decentralisation analysis was presented remotely by Elton Stafa and Kelmend Zajazi, experts from NALAS — the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe. Their presentations sketched out a picture that recurred throughout the discussions: Armenia is not starting from scratch — the administrative-territorial reform has succeeded, but the fiscal reform is still under way, and communities need financial support in order to become more capable.
Together, the four workshops brought in representatives of more than 60 communities. Each meeting was structured not only around the logic of knowledge transfer, but also as a platform for dialogue. In working groups devoted to local taxes, transfers, public financial management and the distribution of functions, community representatives measured the analysis against their everyday experience — noting points of agreement and disagreement and formulating concrete proposals. This format allowed communities and ministries to talk not in parallel, but with one another, around the same table.
The feedback gathered from the four regional meetings will be consolidated into a single document that will serve as the basis for a fiscal decentralisation roadmap. The work continues, and the voice of communities is becoming a crucial component in shaping the reform agenda.