Can You Receive SMS from Romanos Petrosyan Demanding Avinyan's Resignation? - Mesrop Manukyan

“I welcome your principled stance on justice, but I would like to assess several issues at the Yerevan City Hall and expect your assessment as well,” said MP Mesrop Manukyan from the Armenia faction during his speech, responding to the questions raised by members of the ruling party regarding why David Ghazinyan had rented office spaces in Dalma Mall and Rio Mall as the headquarters for HEЦ, despite the high foot traffic that could cause inconvenience.

David Ghazinyan has been nominated as a candidate for the head of the Permanent Committee on Territorial Management and Environmental Protection under the Don’t Initiative. He pointed out the example of the Yerevan municipality, which purchased diesel fuel at 545 drams per liter via one-person purchasing method, even though the cost at gas stations was only 510 drams, indicating that wholesale prices could be even lower.

Manukyan urged party members to evaluate this phenomenon. He presented another similar example where trolleybuses were purchased for 139 million drams, which he had previously raised concern about when he was a municipal council member. He noted that in the next batch of purchases, the price for one trolleybus rose to 96 million drams, and in 15 cases, the city budget paid 1.5 million dollars less.

“On Saturday, Azatutyun published a video showing that a polyclinic under the city hall is offering a space for lease at 540,000 drams per square meter for a pharmacy by some operator, while a city hall official said he finds it reasonable to give it for 300,000 drams to another operator,” Manukyan provided another example.

He stated that the ruling party members show enviable principles in the case of David Ghazinyan, raising the question: “Could you be receiving SMS from Romanos Petrosyan demanding Avinyan's resignation? That would be fair.” The opposition MP declared that he is responsible for all the facts he has published.

Manukyan mentioned that the prosecutor’s office only responds to such matters when he is holding a yogurt bottle and taking a picture, while failing to provide any assessment of the disclosed revelations.

Presenting the areas of activity of the Permanent Committee on Territorial Management and Environmental Protection, Manukyan touched upon issues in the Shirak province, where the poverty level exceeds 40%. He noted that in Amasia, 15 out of 19 schools are being closed by the government, which contributes to the depopulation of villages, and the change in the status of the protected area around Lake Arpi raises the cost of pastures for villagers by 14 times. Manukyan recalled that during the years of the ruling party's governance, no buildings have been constructed in Gyumri, while promises are made in Yerevan for tree planting worth millions, yet they do not even deliver a tenth of it.