City Hall Acquires New Vehicle for Davtashen Leader Due to Old One Being Worn Out and Out of Order

The spokesperson for the Mayor of Yerevan, Hakob Karapetyan, addressed the announcement made by Davit Khajakyan, the leader of the "Lus" faction of the Yerevan Council, regarding the acquisition of an official vehicle by the city hall.

“Davit Khajakyan, the leader of the "Lus" faction of the Yerevan Council, uses ‘classical’ yellow journalism terminology to state that Mayor Hayk Marutyan recently allocated 10 million dram to purchase a NEW SERVICE VEHICLE, creating the impression for the reader that the vehicle is intended for the mayor’s needs. In reality, of course, the city hall is purchasing this vehicle for the official needs of the Davtashen administrative district leader, as the old one was worn out and out of order. The district leader has been using his own vehicle for official duties for at least six months now,” wrote Karapetyan.

“By the way, the mayor has refused one of his two official vehicles. We publicly announced that the representative class 'Mercedes' has been put up for auction, while the mayor is using crossovers (by the way, he drives himself without a chauffeur) and often, especially during the 'hot' months of the year, comes to work by bicycle or sometimes his own car. A few months ago, we published a comparison of fuel and other expenses for the mayor's official vehicles with previous years, showing that FUEL and maintenance expenses have been reduced SIGNIFICANTLY (we are ready to provide written updates to journalist colleagues).”

“As I mentioned, the Davtashen district leader has been using his own vehicle for official duties in recent months, and the breakdown of that vehicle necessitated this purchase. As Deputy Mayor Hayk Sargsyan informed today in the National Assembly, the use of another worn-out vehicle would actually have been more expensive for the community's budget (due to spare parts, maintenance, etc.) than acquiring a new one. This is a rational explanation, the credibility of which can be confirmed by any ‘walrus’ [a term for a skeptical auditor]. Considering the nature of the district leader’s work, the availability of an official vehicle is essential, certainly not less necessary than the official vehicle serving a group leader of three.”

“P.S. A few more points regarding cost reductions. Compared to 2018, the fuel expenditure of the Davtashen district leader’s office in 2019 and 2020 decreased by a total of 1,200,000 dram. In addition, in 2019 and 2020, an annual amount of 1 million dram allocated for taxi services was removed. Moreover, the official vehicle attached to the district leader was also used for ensuring the movement of the office staff.”

P.P.S. - The vehicle pictured is the mayor’s official vehicle that has been put up for auction,” wrote Hakob Karapetyan.