Avinyan Expresses Frustration Over Delay in Hiring Bus Drivers

There are 225 vacant driver positions in the "Yerevan Bus" company. This was announced during the operational meeting of the Yerevan City Hall. Mayor Tigran Avinyan referred to the fact that new buses were brought to Yerevan back in November and that in recent days 90 new drivers have been hired, stating: "If we had maintained this pace since November, we would have resolved this entire issue because we needed 340 employees, and we would have certainly managed to achieve it."

He also inquired of Kirakosyan, the head of the "Yerevan Bus" company, why the process of hiring drivers had not started earlier. "We are now making significant changes to the ticketing system, and those changes are difficult because the entire system is being transformed. We tell the public that we are bringing new buses, replacing the old Hyundai models, and that Gazelles will no longer exist in 2023. We are doing all this to improve quality, while all people see from January is some incomplete routes. And this has not really been the city hall's problem. Now it’s a government decision, it’s a staff list.... you should have proposed the staff list earlier, registered people sooner, queued 600 people, and hired 340 from January 3," he added.

Since the buses have been available since November, it is clear which routes will change in January and there has been a recruitment issue simultaneously: "Now, why should we all look for a bus driver at the city hall? This was your responsibility. We should not be discussing this here now." The mayor noted that there are 50,000 people in Armenia with a category D driver's license. Tigran Avinyan has instructed to ensure the recruitment of drivers by the end of January. He also emphasized that each person should resolve their own issues: "We cannot constantly engage with 'Yerevan Bus'. This is your problem."