VIDEO. "Let them not expect that they will come and say, ‘my father’s sun, we had 15 million in stock.’" - Pashinyan

Businesses affected by the disaster in the Lori and Tavush regions will receive an additional 300 million AMD in support. This decision was made during the Armenian government’s meeting today.

Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan noted that the amount of support provided will depend on the degree of damage, classified as low, medium, and high. The funds will be allocated in two components, based on the location and size of the entrepreneurs' real estate and the amount of tax paid to the state budget. In the first instance, about 150 businesses will receive around 140 million AMD, while the second component will amount to approximately 150 million AMD.

The Minister stated that applications would be submitted to the ministry's email from August 25 to October 15.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, this indicates that when the government calls on people to pay taxes and not have shadow turnover, it is for situations like this: “We tell people not to perceive the taxes they pay as a process of giving their hard-earned money to someone else, but to understand it as moving from one pocket to another. Now entrepreneurs will receive this money through the process of moving it from one pocket to another, which they have saved for a rainy day. I do not think we can consider compensating for a stock of goods that does not appear in documentation. That is out of the question. We have been asking for six years for people to register.

When I was in Alaverdi, someone joked—there’s a person in Tavush saying he had 6 kg of gold in a garage, the water took it away, and now he expects the government to compensate him. No one should have such expectations.”