40 Million Drams Allocated for Citizen's Day Events in 2022

No funds were spent from the state budget on the 30th anniversary celebrations of Armenia's independence. The head of the Prime Minister's Office, Arayik Harutyunyan, confirmed this during discussions on the draft state budget for 2022: 'This year, 0 drams were spent from the state budget for Independence Day. Where we have the opportunity, we implement programs with our partners to avoid additional burdens on the budget,' Harutyunyan stated.

According to the budget for 2022, 40 million drams will be allocated for the festive events of Citizen's Day. This issue was raised by Agvan Vardanyan, a member of the 'Armenia' parliamentary group. Arayik Harutyunyan responded that this holiday should be celebrated every year. 'Moreover, if possible, we need to increase that budget, because, unlike during your years in power, the citizen is our supreme value, and it is the citizen who shows each of us our place in political life. Yes, we cannot celebrate an oligarch's holiday, and we will not, we will not celebrate the day of those who embezzled money from the budget. This belongs to political forces with a different value system. We will celebrate Citizen's Day with even greater splendor,' said Arayik Harutyunyan.

Agvan Vardanyan countered that if the authorities can raise 400-450 million drams to celebrate Independence Day, it would not be difficult to allocate 40 million for Citizen's Day. It is worth noting that the National Assembly adopted an amendment to the law on 'Holidays and Memorial Days' on April 9, 2019, establishing the last Saturday in April as Citizen's Day.