‘Irates’. Hayk Marutyan links city budget with ‘Kargin Haghordman’ producer

‘Irates’ newspaper writes: The work of the Yerevan mayor continues to face discontent not only amidst opposition circles but also within the city hall itself. City hall employees sarcastically note that Yerevan’s budget is also being approached with the spirit of the ‘Kargin Haghordman’ producer.

By the way, the represented BBK and LHK in the city hall seem to take on more opposing functions in the municipality than their counterpart in the National Assembly. The members of the majority sharply criticized Yerevan's 2020 budget, emphasizing the large deficit.

Despite the identified problems, according to our sources, Hayk Marutyan continues to run the city budget in a personal manner, disregarding no one’s words or “advice.” Given the Prime Minister's unwavering support, Marutyan not only continues appointing local cadres in the municipality but has also increased the bonuses fund with the next year's budget. Instead of 700 million drams, in 2020, the bonuses fund has grown to 1 billion 900 million drams.

However, even in this context, there is not much hope in the municipality, as they recall how they had planned months ago to increase the salaries of municipal employees, resulting in only “walkers” benefiting. The proposal for wage increases inspired a fierce reaction, prompting Marutyan to seemingly withdraw it. It turns out that salary increases will wholly take the form of bonuses. It is also noteworthy how bonuses will be allocated.

For more details, refer to the newspaper’s current issue.