Large Outflow of Tourists from Armenia to Georgia Expected for New Year, Khachatryan

In Yerevan, the budget allocated for the New Year celebrations across administrative districts ranges between 425-430 million AMD. There is a possibility that this amount could increase to 550 million AMD, as reported by the media. This was stated by Ani Khachatryan, a member of the Yerevan Council from the 'Lus' faction, in a meeting with journalists on December 10, recalling that the government allocated 271 million AMD.

“It is incomprehensible to me that where there is a problem with bread, a celebration is being organized. According to my information, the most money has been allocated for the singer's (Goran Bregovic – editor) fee, whereas, for instance, the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Eduard Aghajanyan, could have acted as a DJ, and it would have had a much greater effect than inviting a singer and paying him millions. That money could have been distributed among the regions. Where has the concept of equal development for the regions gone?” Khachatryan noted that Mayor Hayk Marutyan previously criticized the former mayor for spending 550 thousand dollars on New Year celebrations while there are still many unresolved issues in the city.

“The question arises: are those same issues being solved now when approximately 1 million dollars is being spent this year? Instead, we are taking loans to solve the city's transport issues, which means we are increasing public debt. Instead, we could save on celebrations and replace, say, 50 elevators. Yerevan's budget would be completely sufficient to hold a worthy event, and the government's funds of 271 million AMD could be spent for other purposes,” she added.

She indicated that this year it is planned to organize 3-4 concert events on December 31 and during Christmas. Khachatryan stated that there will not be a large influx of tourists, but rather a significant outflow from Armenia to Georgia. It is worth noting that 54 million AMD has been allocated from the city's community budget. The government has increased the funds by 271 million AMD. According to media reports, the total amount has reached 541 million AMD or 750 thousand dollars.