YEREVAN. – The 2013/15 European Union (EU) program in Armenia has helped seventeen repatriates.

Head of the “People In Need” Charitable NGO (Czech Republic) Representative Office in Armenia, Philip Hovhannisian, stated the abovementioned on Tuesday. Hovhannisian noted this at the official ceremony of handing the resource centers for immigrants over to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia.

In the past two years, these centers have organized specialized courses for 278 potential repatriates, whose 55 percent has found jobs.

In addition 8,000 people have received consultation on immigration law.

These centers have also organized courses on business skills.

Seventeen were selected from the applications received, and grants were allocated to them.

“[However,] they are not allocated in cash, but in the form of property necessary for future business. Moreover, this property is solely under their direction, but it doesn’t belong to them,” Hovhannisian told Armenian News-NEWS.am. “As a result of monitoring, we will decide whether or not to hand that property over to them once and for all.” Sixty people are working at seventeen small enterprises that have been created. Even though these are primarily family businesses, there are hired employees, too.