There is Certain Resistance in the Intermediate Levels of Management. Pashinyan on Property Confiscation without Conviction

During a Q&A session in the National Assembly, LHK faction member Arman Babajanyan noted that it has been claimed for years that up to 30% of the budget has been embezzled, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. "I’m curious to know, naturally, there is no corruption now, and how the recovered funds are being allocated, what expression they are taking in the budget," he asked.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded that he published the numbers a month ago and has no new data. However, he stated that in the first quarter of this year, the revenue part of the budget has been exceeded by 11.4 billion drams. "This is a reduction of the shadow economy, and this year we plan to exceed the budgetary revenue by 40 billion drams, which is also a reduction of the shadow economy," he said.

Additionally, he reminded that several large-scale criminal cases have been initiated, some of the defendants are unfortunately on the wanted list and have not appeared for questioning. He also mentioned that generally, an additional 40 billion drams are intended for increasing the salaries of soldiers and teachers, as well as addressing road construction issues, municipal subsidy programs, and several other projects.

"No, I am not satisfied with that volume, I have said several times that I hope that the fight against corruption and the process of returning funds will become more active. On Friday, I plan to hold a broad consultation on this topic," he said.

Prime Minister Pashinyan also mentioned that they are currently discussing the mechanism for confiscating property without a conviction. "And this is one of those cases where I clearly see some resistance in the intermediate levels of public administration, and I need to quickly understand what the reasons for this resistance are, whether it is substantive or due to old ties and influences. After receiving the answer to this question, we will undertake more specific measures," he said.