Who will answer for the theft of PCR tests: Elinar Vardanyan

Elinar Vardanyan, a member of the Alternative Projects Group, addresses the issue of reducing the prices of PCR tests for COVID-19 in her latest article, which is due to the regulations that take effect from October 1. We present the article in its entirety below:

“In response to a question about the pricing of PCR tests for COVID-19, the Ministry of Health stated that if prices could be reduced, why wasn't it done before the regulations came into effect on October 1? They asked who benefited excessively. The Ministry of Health responded that it is not their function or responsibility to determine whether these bodies make excessive profits and requested that inquiries about price determination should be directed to the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition.

It is clear that the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition must still answer this question. However, the Ministry of Health cannot simply shift the matter to another domain to evade responsibility. For two years, various platforms have raised numerous questions related to the tests:

• The tests, which range from 15,000 to 20,000 AMD, are exorbitant prices for our already poor society, and only very rarely are tests available for 12,000 AMD.
• According to circulating information, the cost price of a test is up to 3,000 AMD.
• The tests taken when leaving and returning from the country are purely business-oriented, considering how the testing process resembles a conveyor belt.
• The ministry should take measures to regulate the market.

So what now? It turns out that for two years, people have been robbed with excessively expensive tests, companies have turned the test market into a means of making excessive profit, and the Ministry of Health, which is responsible for preventing and controlling the entire course of the pandemic, is NOT PRESENT.

How is it that after the highly controversial, incomplete, and deficient regulations of October 1, the price of tests suddenly drops by half, if not more? Where has the ministry been during this entire theft? What about corruption and theft? Does what happens under this government have no connection to theft?

Ultimately, turning a blind eye to excessive profit made at the expense of one’s own citizens in the harsh conditions of a pandemic is unacceptable both legally and morally. And no matter how much the Ministry of Health tries to convince that they have no connection, all of this falls directly under the ministry's responsibility; moreover, it could also indicate a disregard for the people and incompetence.”