The Regional Administrations of Ararat and Armavir received an unsatisfactory rating on June 30 by Armen Gevorgyan, RoA Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Territorial Administration, for their less than stellar performance when it came to the collection of land taxes during the first five months of this year. Collection numbers have been registered at less than 50%. The rating came as something of a surprise to Ararat Regional Administrator Vardges Hovakimyan who believes that his work record is positive. "Who ever heard of issuing such a rating before half the year is out. I will be raising this issue in the future," Mr. Hovakimyan said. He pointed out that last year collection rate was registered at 106.7%. He assured us that the mid-year collection rate would surpass the 50% mark. It would appear that the regional administrators are being held accountable for unproductive community leaders. Armavir Regional Administrator Ashot Ghahramanyan noted that while the law on "Local Self-Government" allows him to issue a vote of no confidence regarding community leaders the process is cumbersome and complex. "By the time the process is completed the term of the community leader has already expired," he complained. Minister Armen Gevorgyan agreed that the process was complicated but argued that it was intentionally set up in a way that would prevent government officials from issuing such no confidence votes every other day based solely on a personal whim. When asked if the convoluted process didn't bestow a degree of inviolability on community leaders Minister Gevorgyan replied, "In certain cases it does. That's why discussions are underway to make modifications to the law." The Armavir Regional Administration welcomes the policy of the Ministry of Territorial Administration to monitor and audit the activities of the regional administrators but laments the fact that he and other don't have similar authority when it comes to the activities of local community heads. He says that this is a major loophole in the law.