Let's open 6 of them in every village and say, look at this happy country: Pashinyan

During a government session, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed Gegharkunik Province Governor Karen Sargsyan, stating, “To those who complain about the passport office, saying, ‘Oh no, what is this?’, tell them to charge a fee and let them build houses. What does it matter if four employees of the passport office are sitting in Vardenis? Let them charge a fee and build houses, what are we talking about? Or, I remembered well, they say the passport office or the cadastral office is being closed, and the localities will be given. But when we build a healthcare center there, that does not matter; when we build a school there, that does not matter; when we build a kindergarten, that does not matter; when we build a water pipeline, that does not matter; when we build a road... I was unaware that the purpose of our life is the cadastral office and the passport office. If that’s how it is, let’s open 6 of them in every village and say, look, what a happy country we have, we have 6 cadastral offices in every neighborhood, and 12 passport offices. What other state institutions are there? Let’s open tax offices everywhere in every corner and say, ‘Well, the government has completed its duties.’ But how can we talk about such things? We are spending billions on roads, water systems, kindergartens, healthcare centers, lighting, and everything else, and they say, ‘Oh, the cadastral office has closed.’ It closed because we want all of this to be computerized, so people won’t have to stand in line for days and travel dozens of kilometers,” he emphasized.

He recalled that citizens primarily visited passport offices for exit visa stamps. “Now, the stamp that used to cost a thousand drams no longer exists. Now, we are not only optimizing but also doing everything so that people do not need to go there,” he said. According to the Prime Minister, “We are providing the principal amount, we are providing the interest rate, so let them build houses. It is necessary to build houses, get married, and have children.”