Why Mayor Marutyan Flew to Georgia: Clarification

The spokesperson for the Yerevan Municipality, Hakob Karapetyan, presented the transportation expenses of the mayor. "168 hours" reported on the delegation from Yerevan visiting Tbilisi in early October, trying to portray flying to the neighboring country's capital as an extravagance.

First, let’s clarify that traveling by car incurs several additional expenses, including food and accommodation for drivers, which are not required when flying. Moreover, if traveling by car, the entire delegation would have to leave Yerevan the day before to attend official events in Tbilisi. Therefore, the delegation would need to spend at least one extra day, with corresponding financial implications, again including accommodation, food, and so on. Here, the question remains: which option is actually more cost-effective for the community?

As for the overall effectiveness of the mayor's transportation expenses, below are the costs recorded for a single vehicle serving the Yerevan mayor from January to September 2018, compared to the fuel costs for two vehicles serving Mayor Hayk Marutyan in the same period of 2019. According to the data, during the first eight months of 2018, 5,740 liters of gasoline were consumed (calculated at 420 AMD/liter, totaling 2,213,400 AMD), while in the first nine months of 2019, 1,640 liters of gasoline were consumed, amounting to approximately 688,800 AMD. Thus, Mayor Hayk Marutyan’s two service vehicles consumed about 3.5 times less fuel during the reporting period than the single vehicle serving his predecessor.