Prime Minister Calls on MPs Who Received Compensation for Utility Payments to Redirect Funds to Those in Need

“You know how much the topic of utility payments has been discussed; it became the number one domestic political issue. Some wanted to stage a counter-revolution under the banner of utilities. You know that we have implemented four programs, compensating about 5 billion drams for the utility payments of citizens of Armenia, based on the premise that people are in debt and cannot pay,” said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Parliament today.

He emphasized that this was indeed correct for a large segment of the population, but currently, about 2 billion drams have been credited to accounts as advance payments. According to the Prime Minister, this has two explanations: there is proven statistical evidence that subscribers from the impoverished strata in Armenia are the most conscientious payers, and approximately 800 million drams have been credited as advance payments to this segment.

“In our estimation, 1.2 billion drams have been deposited in the accounts of those who actually do not need it, and this was also the reason for our hesitance in making this decision because our biggest problem while implementing anti-crisis measures has been how to make them maximally targeted. We have transferred 1.8 billion drams to the accounts of people who do not need this support, including a significant number of MPs’ utility bills, approximately 20,000 drams for each subscriber. To our dear compatriots who have received the 1.8 billion drams, who do not need this support, I urge you to assist us in redirecting these funds,” he stated.

Addressing the MPs, Pashinyan reminded them that they received on average 20,000 drams under the 16th measure, and if they do not need it, he called on them to find someone in their circle who has pressing needs and support them. The Prime Minister also thanked those who have already made that decision.