Searching for a Benefactor or Willing Friend: Avanesyan

The newspaper 'Joghurnal' reports that on December 23, 2020, the Constitutional Court deemed the decision of the Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan unconstitutional, which required unvaccinated employees to periodically undergo mandatory PCR testing at their own expense.

However, Minister Avanesyan stated that the ministry would not return any money to anyone.

According to the Ministry of Health, the Constitutional Court did not obligate a specific ministry to return the funds, but rather the state itself.

In response to the question of who will return the citizen's money, Aram Vardevanyan, a member of the National Assembly from the 'Armenia' faction, remarked, “All state bodies are financed from one source—the state budget. As for whom the citizen should turn to, that is already an important part of the issue. I hope lawyers will respond to this situation and initiate a process. By attaching the PCR test receipt to the relevant document, they will send it to the Ministry of Health, requesting reimbursement for the test cost.”

Minister Avanesyan comments that the Constitutional Court acknowledged the phrase "at their own expense" in the statement "the employee undergoes the PCR test at their own expense" as unconstitutional, but did not prohibit the citizen from having that same PCR test funded by a friend or, say, a benefactor. Therefore, a benefactor or a willing friend is now being sought.