290,000 Dram Paid for Inviting Friends to a Birthday Celebration: Ararat Mirzoyan

The President of the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan, has clarified one of the topics actively discussed on the internet since yesterday morning, regarding a dinner he hosted for friends which resulted in a ‘bill’ of 290,000 dram at a restaurant.

Mirzoyan specifically stated that such an event did occur, but the amount was paid in connection with an invitation made on the occasion of a birthday celebration.

“My dear ones, I invited my relatives for khash (a traditional Armenian dish) in honor of my birthday yesterday morning. At the end of the gathering, I paid around 290,000 dram. A little while ago, I saw a disgusting post about me and this event, for which I will file a lawsuit against the author for the lies, insults, and slander contained in it. The author of the post is not a citizen who has incorrect information, but someone who spares no effort to discredit our political team with cheap deception and manipulation, seemingly a leader of some NGO, the founder of ‘Antifeik’ website, and someone aiming for political leadership.

The post raises doubts about how I could pay that bill while living solely on my salary. Well, if that's your hope—to tie me to any corrupt illegal income—then your case is more hopeless, and you're more powerless than I thought. It is also claimed that I could not have afforded such a thing before and could not even pay off my debts. I’ll say that before being elected to the National Assembly, I held very well-paid jobs, let’s say, about double my current salary. As for the debt, you can find the joke I made regarding the traffic fine payment on the video of the relevant National Assembly session, mentioning that I had forgotten to pay a fine, which is why my accounts had been frozen. Those who present this topic in another light are simply engaging in cheap and disgraceful trickery.

I find it unnecessary to mention that this user will also have to prove my alleged fraudulent behavior. As for the restaurant chain, which I have yet to name, I believe this company should publicly apologize for disclosing customer data and, for the sake of its own good name, should clarify the source of that disclosure internally.

P.S. The discussed post is in the first two comments.

Additionally, this certainly did not overshadow the warm feelings I had from your congratulations, well-wishes, inspiring, and simultaneously obligating words. I am very grateful,” wrote the National Assembly President on his Facebook page.