How Much Money Was Spent From the State Budget for Pashinyan's Two-Day Bicycle Tour Around Lake Sevan

How much money was spent from the state budget for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's two-day bicycle tour around Lake Sevan? Civilnet.am has examined the two contracts signed for the event.

It is reported that on August 24 and 25, a bicycle tour was organized around Lake Sevan. The media outlet has revealed that the costs for food, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the participants were covered by taxpayers. Additionally, expenses were incurred for tents, bio-toilets, the rental of ten bicycles, 200 T-shirts, 100 backpacks, and various other services.

For this purpose, the Prime Minister's Office signed two contracts according to the state procurement website. One of the contracts was signed with “Elya Avagyan” LLC on August 23. For two days of breakfasts, lunches, and one dinner for 100 people, approximately 5 million AMD or $12,800 was paid.

Regarding the rental of tents, bicycles, and other items, a contract was signed with Liga Vardanyan LLC. The amount of this contract is 9.6 million AMD or $24,500. Both contracts with the individual entrepreneurs were signed as urgent, through a single-person procedure.

At least $37,000 was spent on the two-day bicycle tour around Lake Sevan, funded by taxpayers' contributions. This figure is conservative, as it is unclear what funds were used to purchase Pashinyan's bicycle, how much was allocated for the production of videos published on the Prime Minister's social media page, or what other expenses were incurred that are not reflected on the state procurement website, Civilnet reports.