Pashinyan Addressed A. Ghulyan over Failure to Execute Instructions

When an instruction is given, it must be executed, or a justification must be provided that it cannot be carried out. This was stated today by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a government meeting discussing the allocation of funds to the Urban Development Committee of the Republic of Armenia.

The Prime Minister expressed his frustration, saying that this topic keeps coming up every week: “Mr. Ghulyan, if it turns out that the Urban Development Committee spent 26 million less than its funds based on the results of 2020, this conversation will become a big story,” he said, addressing Armen Ghulyan, who is fulfilling the duties of the head of the Urban Development Committee.

He noted that if we do not spend 10 billion drams by the end of the year, there are other projects waiting for funding today. “We all know we are going to underperform, but we are giving as much money as possible. We could spend 26 million elsewhere, and it might be more efficient,” said the Prime Minister, emphasizing that this issue will not be discussed further, and he sent it back to the committee for re-examination. It should be noted that this is the third question at the government meeting that is not put to a vote.

“When an instruction is given, it must be executed, or there must be a justification that it cannot be executed. No matter how many times I warn, I continuously return to my instructions publicly. If such a case repeats, I will have to take measures,” said the Prime Minister.

When the next project on the agenda was discussed, Pashinyan expressed hope that it had at least been sufficiently discussed in the committee. However, at the moment when Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan asked to speak, the Prime Minister said, “Mr. Janjughazyan, don’t start, I’m not in the mood, let’s move on to coronavirus.”