It Was Impossible to "Do It Under the Table": What is Hidden Behind the Announced Savings in the National Assembly

According to the 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper, on January 10 of this year, former Deputy Head of the Staff of the National Assembly of Armenia Arsen Babayan announced that during 2018, due to effective management and accurate expense regulation, they had achieved savings of 404 million drams. Moreover, he claimed that in terms of fuel, the Armenian National Assembly's staff saved 114,000 liters of gasoline in 2018, which was reserved for 2019. However, according to circulating rumors, the previous leadership of the National Assembly made the announcement about these savings under duress. Prior to this, the savings had not been documented anywhere and did not appear in any paperwork. After the Velvet Revolution that took place in the spring of last year, there was apprehension in the National Assembly, and they understood that it was impossible to keep everything "under the table," so they were forced to announce the savings.

'Zhoghovurd' newspaper reached out to comment on this issue. Babayan stated, 'The regulations related to savings have been implemented since the beginning of 2017. Even in 2017, we organized our work in such a way that serious savings would be ensured for 2018. This is how we achieved the savings.'

For more details, refer to today's issue of 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper.