Crime Against the State: Why Are Drivers Protesting?

Since this morning, city transport drivers whose work has been paralyzed are expressing discontent over their compensation and are demanding a salary increase. Complaining about working conditions is a normal phenomenon and can objectively serve as a reason to express dissent through various forms of protests. However, the so-called sabotage by the drivers has highlighted a rather painful reality that has deepened over the years.

According to the Yerevan Municipality, drivers currently receive competitive salaries ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 AMD for 15 days of work. But it is evident that this salary amount is a heavy financial blow to our drivers. More specifically, since the introduction of a new payment system, drivers' income has decreased, and now they are demanding salaries of 500,000 to 550,000 AMD for the same duration.

TD representative of the “Armenia” faction, Tadevos Avetisyan, who joined the protest, stated today that before the new payment system came into effect, drivers earned a daily shadow income of 5,000 to 6,000 AMD under cash fare conditions. Drivers also openly discuss shadow income, declaring that they have been deprived of this money. To be more straightforward and to call things by their rightful names, it turns out our compatriots are protesting against being deprived of the opportunity to extort money from the state and the budget.

Today, during a meeting with journalists, Yerevan's deputy mayor Suren Grigoryan announced that the shadow budget of the transport system has amounted to 5 million AMD per day. Thus, over the course of a year, a total of 1 billion 825 million AMD has been embezzled from the state. This is a significant amount that could have made our city better.

This represents a systematic corrupt crime against the state, which for some reason is only now being attempted to be curtailed. Instead of those involved in the crime facing legal consequences, drivers receiving salaries of 200,000 to 400,000 AMD for 15 days are conducting strikes and protests. It should be noted that this is happening in a country where there are doctors, teachers, and researchers earning monthly salaries of only a few tens of thousands of AMD. This is not just a paradox but a shameful phenomenon for Armenian society.