A high-level workshop was held on the reform of environmental fees for water use and environmental taxes on hazardous substances discharged into water bodies. The event was organized within the framework of the “EU4Green Recovery” programme, launched in January 2025 and funded by the European Union.
The workshop aimed to discuss the challenges and opportunities in reforming environmental fees and environmental taxes, to identify priorities for implementation, and to highlight key principles.
During the workshop, Lilit Abrahamyan, Head of the Water Policy Department of the Ministry of Environment of the RA; Lusine Avetisyan, Head of the Strategic Policy Department; and Matthew Griffiths, Senior Programme Manager at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) delivered speeches.
The participants discussed both the roadmap for reforming water use fees and proposals for revising fees related to waters used for hydropower and aquaculture.
A separate segment of the discussion was devoted to the principles of reforming the environmental tax system and aligning it with EU legislation, with particular attention to measures for urban wastewater treatment.