Hakob Karapetyan Responds to My Step Council Member

The press secretary of Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan, Hakob Karapetyan, has responded to the statements of Levon Hovhannisyan, the secretary of the My Step group in the Yerevan Council.

“Even in the council, Levon Hovhannisyan has made a strange calculation, attempting to cast doubt on the expected numbers for replenishing the transport fleet. Let me briefly present a simple calculation:

1. In 2020, 100 compact buses were purchased through the community budget (this is a bus, not a minibus, as our opposing colleagues are trying to represent. Search for 'Gazelle Next City' online and familiarize yourself with the technical specifications).
2. In 2021, another 211 units of 8.6-meter buses were purchased through the community budget.
3. Today, Mayor Marutyan announced that a request has been submitted to acquire another 100 buses using community funds.
4. In addition, it is known that a recently signed loan and grant agreement between the Government of Armenia, the Yerevan Municipality, the EBRD, and the Yerevan Bus LLC will result in the city acquiring 100 units of 12-meter buses.

Thus, 100 + 211 + 100 + 100 = 511 buses. According to the transport reform program, the city needs 850 buses. Hence, 850*100/511=60.11%. This means that as a result of the already made and expected purchases, next year the urban transport fleet will be replenished by 60% and not by 35%, as Council member Levon Hovhannisyan presents,” he stated.