VIDEO: Ministers Angered the Prime Minister, He Received a Letter

A short while ago, a session of the Armenian government commenced. Before proceeding to the agenda items, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he received a letter from the leaders of the 'Armat' laboratories. '260 group leaders managing 350 groups in Armenia's 'Armat' laboratories have not received their salaries for three months. I want to understand, is it possible in the 21st century for state employees to go three months without a salary?' he said.

Responding to the Prime Minister's question, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Arayik Harutyunyan stated, 'In previous years, the laboratory programs were funded through grants, this year the format has changed to a competitive one, there were objections, we negotiated in February, prepared a project, and discussed it with the Ministry of Finance; the project will also be discussed in the committee tomorrow and will be approved next week.'

Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan added, 'This concerns payments for services organized by NGOs.'

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan also suggested discussing the issue at today's government session.

This proposal further angered the Prime Minister. 'We must abandon the habit of doing everything at the last minute. We need to clearly know what work is planned and move forward. Not to receive a letter, arrive and say, let’s discuss this at today's session. Discuss it, make a decision, and from now on, I do not want to have such a case again.'