“When a person enters the Sevan area, they come and say: pay 10,000 AMD, for what?” says Pashinyan

Armenia has had public beaches for quite a long time, and I have personally tried to visit several times to see what is happening there. This was stated today, July 13, at a government meeting by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

“The logic is that everything at a public beach is free. I tried to open a door, and the handle came off in my hand; the sanitary conditions are poor, benches are broken, there are accumulations of garbage, not to mention the state of the restrooms. Now I have given instructions to create public beaches through a competition and to give them for management through the same competition. All the main things that a citizen could do without any payment, if the managing company of that public beach were not present, should be accessible to citizens in an affordable manner. This means that any citizen can go there, sit on the shore, spend the whole day, bring food and necessary items and leave whenever they wish. However, on the other hand, if a citizen wants to use certain services, they must pay for them and benefit from them. This is being done so that the private sector is interested in making investments, bringing the area into proper condition, and providing service, which will result in a suitable environment for recreation,” he said.

Pashinyan stated that some services at public beaches should be made chargeable: “Experience shows that free restrooms will never be in proper condition; let it be cheap, a symbolic fee, but dignified. We must also prohibit any fees for entering a public beach. By saying that everything is free, we are not doing a service to people,” Pashinyan noted at the government meeting.

“A person enters the Sevan area, and they come saying: pay 10,000 AMD, for what? We must prohibit any fee for entry, but if there is parking that provides security, what if a person pays 200 AMD? Let them pay; they will feel secure, rather than checking every half hour whether their car mirrors have been taken,” Pashinyan added.