National Assembly Continues to Surprise the Public with Its Unique Purchases: ‘Jozhovoort’

The National Assembly of Armenia has continued to surprise the public with its unique purchases over the past three years. Although the purchases organized by the head of the National Assembly's staff, David Arakelyan, are meant to serve the functioning of the parliament, the facts suggest otherwise. This is reported by the newspaper ‘Jozhovoort’.

“In December 2023, the National Assembly purchased 5 JBL headphones from the ‘VLV’ store chain at a total cost of 100,000 drams. It remains to be clarified whether the MPs decided to listen to each other's fiery speeches better or if these headphones help in ‘not hearing’ the critical opposition.”

The next surprise is a Hisense refrigerator-display purchased in June 2024 for 289,000 drams. A lingering question remains: what will be displayed in the National Assembly’s refrigerator—draft laws or the parliamentary privileges that are valued so highly?

In April of the same year, the Assembly also acquired a drying device for 153,700 drams. Who or what is supposed to be dried in the parliament, perhaps the promises of MPs that have remained ‘damp’ for years?

Aside from all this, an electric water heater was purchased in the same month for 62,000 drams. Meanwhile, in April 2025, another water heater was bought for only 15,200 drams. In March, a ‘top’ purchase was made: a RoyaL Thermo RWH200XL water heater for 235,000 drams. After all this, a justified question arises: whom and what are they heating so much in the parliament?

This is not the first instance. Previously, the Assembly was noted for purchasing ‘chikchikan’ toys and rocking toy items from a children's toy store, along with other accessories. Moreover, the National Assembly Chairman, Alen Simonyan, procured a gold rosary worth 2.5 million drams at state expense.

It turns out that the budget of the National Assembly serves not only for legislative activities but also for the ‘comfort of parliamentary life.’ Why these purchases are made at the expense of the state budget and what benefits they bring to the country's legislative body in functional terms remain unanswered,” the newspaper writes.