Many of Armenia`s private security agencies registered only on paper 

ArmInfo. In Armenia, many private companies engaged in security activities are registered, but in fact they are inactive. This was stated on March 25 from the  rostrum of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia by Deputy  Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Mkrtchyan, who presented in the  first reading a draft amendment to the law "On Private Security  Activities" and a package of related laws.

According to the deputy minister, the current law was adopted back in  2012 and requires adjustments in accordance with the requirements of  the time.

Currently, there are about 200 organizations in the republic engaged  in this type of activity, of which only 20 consistently provide  security services. All the rest, as shown by the conducted research,  pursue only private interests. In particular, having registered as  just one representative of the organization, these structures receive  the right to receive weapons, but not to carry out specific  activities. The current legislation does not allow the use of state  control mechanisms. For this reason, an updated version of the draft  law has been presented.

Armen Mkrtchyan noted that the package is aimed at bringing security  activities to uniform standards. In particular, video surveillance  services provided through the installation of technical equipment,  security using an alarm system, and rapid response services are now  added to the existing regulations. Another change concerns the  process of obtaining a license. The bill establishes that at the time  of filing an application for a license, an organization must have at  least 10 qualified security guards versus one at present. The package  also includes a requirement for mandatory insurance of the protected  facility. To solve this problem, organizations must insure property  for an amount twice the amount of income received for the previous  year, but not more than 10 million drams. In this case, we are  talking about the possibility of compensating the protected facility  for damage due to the unsatisfactory work of security guards, which  must be compensated by the insurance company.

The package is planned to increase the amount of state duty for a  security license from 300 times the base rate to 500 times. The  number of cars of a person accompanied by bodyguards should not  exceed one vehicle, and the number of bodyguards should not exceed  three persons.

The liability for violations of the presented package is being  tightened, in connection with which the corresponding amendments have  been made to the Code of Administrative Offenses. It should be noted  that, according to the justification of the draft law, the main  purpose of the package is to apply the relevant standards, especially  considering that from January 1, 2026, the police will stop guarding  buildings and structures of state bodies, and this function will be  transferred to private security organizations. As the study of the  available information has shown, the number of business entities that  received a license in the Republic of Armenia in 2022 compared to  2017 increased by about 3.6 times - from 42 to 152. Currently, the  number of such organizations is 210. Given the social significance of  the sector, it is important that business entities receiving a  license have the appropriate potential and economic resources.  Otherwise, the risk increases that business entities, not having  sufficient resources to provide services of due quality, will begin  to fail to comply with a number of legislative requirements in order  to reduce the cost of services.  This, in turn, may lead to a  violation of equal conditions of competition between business  entities operating in the security sector.