Aviynan is campaigning with state programs; Pashinyan responds to media's observation

On March 14, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the notion circulated by Armenian media that Yerevan's Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinyan is using state budget programs from the Yerevan Municipality for his campaign.

The Prime Minister recalled that his political team won the Yerevan mayoral elections in 2018, thus undertaking certain obligations. “Furthermore, I was the candidate for mayor from the ‘Elk’ alliance in the 2017 Yerevan Council elections. Our election program has been in force since then. Since we won the Yerevan mayoral elections, we have been implementing our electoral programs and promises from that moment on,” said the Prime Minister.

He noted that from 2018 to the present, 1,000 'desperate Gazelles' have been removed from circulation in Yerevan, which constitutes 70 percent of the total number of Gazelles. “The other Gazelles will also be removed from circulation in the near future. The batches of buses are already in Yerevan, arriving, and will soon be put into service. As of today, over 1,000 'death elevators' have been replaced with brand new elevators. This has been one of the key provisions of my electoral program as a candidate for mayor of Yerevan in 2017. The Yerevan Council elections are political elections, and our political team has undertaken these obligations. If you consider that purchasing new buses, replacing elevators, creating a new waste disposal system, street lighting, and road asphalt paving is corruption, that is another issue,” the Prime Minister stated, declaring that there is no systemic corruption in Armenia.

The head of government also added that by 2026, 80-90 percent of Yerevan's elevators will be replaced.