Regional Governor's Office Employees Received 68 Million in Bonuses, Yet There's No Money to Repair School Roof, Says Journalist

Journalist Voskanyan Sargsyan wrote on his Facebook page:

“During the Soviet era, there was significant emigration from the remote village of Barekamavan in the Noyemberyan region, bordering Azerbaijan, which intensified after Armenia gained independence. In the mid-1970s, the eight-year school in Barekamavan had around 330 students, while students from the 9th and 10th grades continued their education in the neighboring villages of Koti, Vaskegan, and Noyemberyan secondary schools. Currently, the high school in Barekamavan has only 13 students.

The renovation of the school's roof has been incomplete since September 2020, funded by donations from Barekamavan residents living in Stavropol. The then-governor of Tavush, Hayk Chobanyan, told charity donors that only 8.5 million drams were needed for the renovation of the roof, whereas subsequent calculations revealed that 12 million drams were actually required.

The necessary building materials for the roof renovation are available, but there are no funds to pay the workers. No support has been provided from the state budget for this purpose.

I learned from the Tavush Regional Administration that employees of the Tavush Regional Governor’s Office received 68,024.8 thousand drams in bonuses during the period from January to September 2021.

The Tavush regional governor, Haik Galumyan, who was appointed to this position by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's decision on April 8, 2021, is also the godfather of the Prime Minister's wedding.”