At least two global star concerts to be hosted in Armenia annually, says PM

The Armenian government has decided to organize at least two concerts by global stars in Armenia every year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said while presenting the election program of the ruling Civil Contract party.

“You remember the major scandal related to Snoop Dogg’s concert,” Pashinyan said, referring to the cancellation of the American rapper’s performance in Yerevan, which was originally slated for 2023 and resulted in the government requesting organizers to return millions of dollars.

“It turned out well that we remained consistent, and the company that won the tender to organize Snoop Dogg’s concert also remained consistent, and as a result we had an event of enormous significance — Jennifer Lopez’s concert at the Republican Stadium in Yerevan. And now we have made the following decision: every year, through a competitive process, we will allocate funds from the state budget to organize at least two concerts by global stars in Armenia,” Pashinyan said.

He rejected criticism related to spending on organizing the events, arguing that such major events generate greater revenue.

“I want to say the following: all our calculations show that when we invest this amount for this purpose, it brings so many tourists to Armenia, and they spend so much money, that Armenia fully recovers that investment. Part of it returns directly to the state budget, while another part goes to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as businesses in general, taxis, and so on. In reality, we are spending this money for the citizens of Armenia. Not to mention that it improves Armenia’s image, which in turn increases tourist flows beyond these concerts, and through this we aim to raise the number of tourists to 3 million [annually],” he added.