Public Discussion of Gyumri's Budget Held in Empty Hall

Only 5 council members, 1 department head, and 3 representatives of non-governmental organizations attended the discussion of Gyumri's main financial document. Most of the chairs in the hall remained empty until the end of the discussion. Nevertheless, the main figures of the city budget were published, amounting to 3 billion 992 million 6 thousand drams, of which 2 billion 381 million 8 thousand drams is state subsidy, meaning that the revenue collected by the Gyumri city hall will total 1 billion 610 million drams.

This amount includes a higher salary fund than in 2020, with an increase of 504 million drams as the minimum wage rises. The budget forecasts an increase in revenues, attributed to the growing number of vehicles operating in the city. Funding for kindergartens has also been increased; the salary fund for 25 kindergartens will amount to 693 million drams, covering utility expenses and food provisions. Allocations for road construction have also increased.

Dedicated funds have been set aside for road construction projects, as well as to cover the credit obligations for work already completed. This refers to a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). “We have loan servicing set at 62.8 million drams. This is the interest on the EIB loan. For now, it is budgeted, but we are not obligated to spend this exact amount. We planned for this in 2019 as well, but we did not make loan repayments because it was not required. The project is still ongoing. A total of 415 million drams is allocated for road construction,” said Lena Jilavyan, head of the financial and economic division of the Gyumri city hall.

Allocations for road construction programs will increase, but will be based on state funding. The 2020 subvention programs have not been accounted for in the budget; 411 million drams have been allocated for waste management, 75 million for greening, and 22 million drams for stray dog sterilization efforts. The numbers not only represent finances but also account for the number of stray dogs in the city.

The city hall announced a competition to select an organization that deals with dog sterilization. There are no such organizations in Gyumri, and those coming from the capital do not meet the competition conditions. They are already announcing the fourth competition, and the city hall is considering an alternative. “We will probably announce the competition one more time and change the competition parameters to make it more accessible for certain organizations. If again there is no winning organization, the next step will be to create a community non-profit organization, like the center for the sterilization of stray animals in Yerevan,” informed Hayk Sultanyan, deputy mayor of Gyumri.

It has already been calculated that establishing a community non-profit organization will require 60 million drams from the budget. Whether this structure will be formed or not will become clear by the end of the year after the next competition. During the same period, the budget will be presented for council approval.