We Will Pay Your Electricity Debt of 50,000 Drams from My Fund: PM Pashinyan's Conversation with a Citizen

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan conducted a Facebook live session where he called residents whose electricity has been disconnected due to unpaid bills.

“I have requested a list of several subscribers whose electricity has been cut off due to debt. I want to speak with some of them to understand their stories. For example, there is a case where a person consumed electricity worth up to 5,000 drams, but it turns out that they have a summer house in Dzaghkadzor or Dilijan and have gone there infrequently, so their monthly expense was just 5,000 drams. They are benefiting from state assistance,” said Pashinyan.

On the first call, a woman responded, stating that her electricity had been off for five days. “I have a 82-year-old mother at home, and my husband is recovering from surgery. They told us they won’t reconnect our service until we pay our debt. It was 50,000 drams, I paid 40,000, and asked them to reconnect it until I receive my pension. But they haven’t reconnected it. There’s no one working; I am the only one going out and cleaning houses. I have two sons; the eldest has returned from the army and occasionally does construction work, but he is currently unavailable,” said the woman, adding that her current debt stands at 50,000 drams.

Nikol Pashinyan promised that this time, his fund will cover the electricity bill, and he urged that the sons should find work.