YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, NOYAN TAPAN. As of November 30, 2006, compensation has been paid to about 3,000 citizens who had deposits with the ASSR Republican Bank of the former USSR Savings Bank prior to June 10, 1993. Astghik Minasian, Head of the Social Assistance Department of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, said during a press conference on November 30 that it is envisaged to pay compensation of 200 million drams to 1,300-1,700 persons in December. According to the minister Aghvan Hovsepian, as a result of an amendment made by the Armenian government's decision in the order of compiling the lists of depositors, out of 61,680 persons having the right for compensation, 59,650 have been included in the lists. Before that 27,435 persons were included in the lists. The minister noted that the amendment enabled to clarify the list by 96%. To recap, the 2006 state budget envisages 1 billion drams (about 2.6 million USD) for paying compensation to depositors.

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