ArmInfo.The expenses of the Armenian Prime Minister's Office exceed the combined expenses of the royal families of Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium. This was stated on social media by Narek Karapetyan, coordinator of the "Our Way" movement. He also responded to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's accusations that "there isn't a single family in Armenia whose money hasn't been stolen by the ESA in the past."
On January 8, at a government briefing, Pashinyan stated that for a long time in Armenia, "people have been robbed through the ESA in order to generate political discontent." "As a result of the work of Romanos Petrosyan (the interim head of the ESA - ed.) and other colleagues, it has become clear that there isn't a single family in Armenia whose money hasn't been stolen by the ESA in the past," he said. "I'll give a professional answer: over the past 10 years, 800,000 meters have been replaced in Armenia, an electronic system has been introduced, and as a result, ESA losses have decreased from 15% to 6%. Also, thanks to savings of approximately $35-40 million, tariff increases have been avoided," stated Narek Karapetyan. He added that the Prime Minister has been presented with a corresponding report seven times, "but he pretends not to remember it." They themselves steal and rob, imposing fines and illogical punishments on society, he added.
Narek Karapetyan emphasized that for many people, a car is the main means of supporting a family. In every village, there are people deprived of their driver's licenses and the opportunity to feed their families. "One of our first steps will be to provide these people with a second chance and the opportunity to regain their driver's licenses after completing a probationary period," stated the movement's coordinator, emphasizing the need to review the amount of fines and bring them in line with the average salary in Armenia. He also questioned how the funds paid in fines to the state budget are spent.
"A person who accuses people of robbery and forgets that he himself has stolen should remember that he quadrupled the Prime Minister's Office's expenses, bringing them to $65 million. Have Armenian citizens really become four times better off if the Prime Minister's Office receives four times more?" Karapetyan asked.
To better understand the situation, he pointed out that Pashinyan's office spends more than the royal families of Denmark, Spain, Sweden, and Belgium combined, the richest countries in the world.
"Dear citizens, don't be fooled by their modest attire; they spend however and wherever they want, and without any accountability," Narek Karapetyan concluded.
