You Are Grossly Violating the Rights of Local Self-Governments: Arthur Khachatryan

If local self-governments violate the law while exercising their powers, there are police, prosecutor's offices, and investigative bodies to address this issue. This was stated by Arthur Khachatryan, a member of the ‘Armenia’ parliamentary faction during a session of the National Assembly.

“Look, if it is a subsidy or a subvention, I completely understand that the state has allocated funds and is verifying if the money is spent according to its purpose or not. Here, if the allocation of that money is illogical, it is not the community that should be punished but, for instance, the entity providing that funding. Now, regarding own revenues and allocations; these funds are considered own revenues. The money provided through equalization is not a favor from the state; it is the state's obligation. You give that money to local self-governance bodies and say, ‘that’s your money,’” he stated.

According to Khachatryan, he spoke with several heads of communities yesterday who mentioned that more money is flowing into the state budget from their community in the form of income tax, profit tax, value-added tax, excise tax, etc., while only a small portion of it comes back to them through equalization mechanisms.

“Some contribute less and receive more to ensure the equal development of communities. This mechanism is in place, and that’s why I say that state governing bodies should not interfere in all this. By doing this, the rights of local self-governance are grossly violated, excuse me, grossly violated,” he added.