Arsen Torosyan in an Unenviable Position

The daily newspaper 'Haylur' reports that during yesterday's cabinet meeting, Armenia's Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan found himself, to put it mildly, in an unenviable position. Cabinet members, together with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, were compelled to organize a brief course on the basics of economics for Torosyan, while simultaneously criticizing and pointing out the shortcomings in his knowledge of the sector.

Arsen Torosyan is trying to combat smoking and the consumption of unhealthy food products in the framework of promoting a healthy lifestyle. For this purpose, he proposes increasing the excise tax on tobacco and implementing stricter taxation on sugar and soft drinks.

A healthy lifestyle is undoubtedly necessary, and this is an indisputable fact. The Ministry of Health has significant responsibilities in this area. However, the methods proposed by Arsen Torosyan to achieve this aim are, to put it mildly, impractical, as they could significantly harm the economy of the country and reduce budgetary revenues. Therefore, Torosyan's behavior gives the impression that he is discussing his plans merely for his own PR without delving into the mechanisms for their implementation.

It is not surprising that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan felt compelled to reprimand Torosyan yesterday, saying, 'He is not interested in the budget income; he is interested in making it so expensive that no one will smoke. Mr. Torosyan, we are a government; we cannot be only a Ministry of Health. Now we must also think about tax revenues, healthcare, and farmers' agricultural product procurement.'

Even Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, who is usually very reserved, reacted sharply. Addressing Torosyan, he suggested that as of tomorrow, he prohibit the sale of tobacco and 'Coca-Cola' in healthcare institutions. 'In other words, you should show yourself in this fight, and then come back and demonstrate it in the tax legislation,' he harshly pointed out.

For more details, see today's issue of the newspaper.