168: Economic terror. where are the thousands of jobs going?

Nikol Pashinyan has more than once been proud that he has created thousands of jobs in Armenia. Let’s leave aside the fact that Nikol Pashinyan has nothing to do with the creation of these jobs. They are jobs created by businessmen thanks to their work and investments. Instead, Nikol Pashinyan has a direct connection with thousands of jobs closed in Armenia these days.

We are talking about the closing of jobs in dozens of companies owned by Gagik Tsarukyan. Those jobs were closed by a political order from above, and now thousands of citizens are facing the problem of losing their income. People are worried, they have a family, they have loans, they have to repay loans, they complain that they have been deprived of their means of livelihood, but no one wants to listen and give an answer.

By political order, they closed the companies, barricaded the doors, threw the workers into the street, and the head of the government is having fun, taking selfies, climbing mountains. He seems to have solved all the problems facing the country and the people and now he is enjoying the rest, he has gone on a long vacation.

As a result of the policies conducted by him and his government, the inconveniences created in foreign markets were few, and now they are creating new ones. A few days ago, he assured that after his visit to Russia, he reached agreements on lifting restrictions on the export of Armenian goods. Days pass, and the Russian market remains closed as before. And while the economy and citizens are counting losses, Nikol Pashinyan is adding new ones.

What is happening to the businesses and companies owned by Gagik Tsaruka is terror, which is beyond economic justification. Law-enforcement and tax authorities simply follow instructions. They attacked people’s businesses and are trying to create grounds for taking them away. Long-term rental contracts are unilaterally canceled, regardless of the fact that millions of dollars in investments have been made on the basis of these contracts. Contracts cancel to take possession of the property.

All of this is certainly directed against Gagik Tsarukyan, his political and economic activities, but the victim is not only Gagik Tsarukyan, it is the state, the economy, the state budget, and the thousands of citizens who earn their livelihood in those dozens of companies closed by one order.

Every day they spread a message about the violations recorded in different companies, revealed abuses, and hidden taxes. If the problem is not paying or hiding taxes, it does not mean that the company should be forcibly closed and the employees thrown out. On the contrary, conditions must be created so that it can pay the alleged unpaid or hidden taxes. For this, first of all, it is necessary for it to continue working.

Failure to pay taxes is not a reason to terminate the company’s operations. They stop it in a case when they aim to seize property and business under the pretext of bankruptcy and non-fulfillment of obligations to the state.

This is what is happening now with Gagik Tsarukyan’s businesses. Depriving them of the opportunity to work and pay unpaid taxes, if in fact, they create conditions for business bankruptcy. Then they will sell their hearts to businessmen and oligarchs, who probably have an eye on these businesses for a long time.

All this is redistribution of property. In the name of law and legality, they expropriate the big owner with false justifications, because he dared to make a political bid and go against the government.

The question arises, how did it happen that these widespread abuses, illegalities, and non-payment of taxes were revealed after Nikol Pashinyan announced that he would bankrupt Gagik Tsarukyan and dispossess him? If there were so many violations and abuses, what were the responsible bodies for so long? Why did they remember all this after Gagik Tsarukyan announced his participation in the elections? Would they have done the same if he had not participated?

The answer to these questions seems to be clear to everyone. And that means that what is happening now with Gagik Tsarukyan’s businesses is a political reprisal with its economic, financial and social consequences.

Various figures are given regarding the closed jobs in several dozen companies that have been forced to idle, up to 10-15 thousand. Let’s consider that it is less. But closing even 1 workplace is a problem, let alone thousands of workplaces.

If these jobs continue to remain closed, we will soon see the consequences on the employment indicators as well.

Most recently, Nikol Pashinyan published another record of jobs at the government meeting. He said that we have the highest registered jobs of all time in 2026. 823 thousand 584 jobs were registered in May.

Of course, that historical record announced by Nikol Pashinyan is at least 1.5 thousand more than the indicators published by official statistics, but that is not the problem. When talking about historical records, it would be good to remember how many workplaces were closed due to the arbitrariness of the authorities.

Creating jobs, about which they make such bold statements, is not their gift. Those jobs are opened by businessmen. And when they close them with unnecessary interventions and pressures and throw thousands of people into the street, it cannot remain without consequences.

HAKOB KOCHARYAN

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