Verelq: Talk in numbers, we are not at a rally. How did the debate between Pashinyan and Vardanyan end?

After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on September 9, an interesting debate took place between RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and co-founder of the “Initiatives for the Development of Armenia” (IDeA) Foundation, Ruben Vardanyan, during a discussion with Armenian businessmen. The latter urged Pashinyan to speak in numbers at the business meeting, not with appeals and slogans.

“Since we have a business meeting, not a rally, if possible, let’s talk with numbers, not with calls and slogans. We have already heard them a lot,” said Vardanya and asked the Prime Minister of Armenia several questions. “I have three questions: first. We can talk a lot about the need for investment, but business loves stability and predictability. As the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, what steps are you taking to create a predictable environment and establish cooperation between different circles?” asked Vardanyan and reminded that Pashinyan is now in a country where a civil war started 100 years ago, as a result of which many people died and the country’s economy was destroyed. “God forbid, a period of instability begins in Armenia. The political risks in the country are primary from the point of view of business,” said Vrdanyan.

Vardanyan’s second brought the issue to taxes. He noted that in terms of taxes, Armenia is uncompetitive, even if we compare it with Georgia and Belarus. “You can say invest, there is no corruption, but besides corruption there is another important issue that I have addressed Tigran Sargsyan, Hovik Abrahamyan, Karen Karapetyan, now I want to ask a question to the RA Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, because you are not an economist. What is the most profitable company in Armenia, what is the most profitable sector, how much does it earn? I urge your team to speak in the language of numbers when communicating with businessmen, because it is easier and more understandable,” Vardanyan said, reports Today.

According to him, it is necessary to explain how much investment needs to be made, how much the taxes and revenues will be. There are 18 tax types in Armenia, 6 in Georgia. “What are you planning to do so that there will be 6 types of taxes in Armenia, or are you not planning? You are the Prime Minister of Armenia, we are ready to support our country, but it would be good if the dialogue was in this format, and not in the format of “let’s go, everything will be fine”. Believe me, Karen Karapetyan also said: come, guys, everything will be fine, there will be no problem. Hovik Abrahamyan and Tigran Sargsyan said the same, each of them in his own way. in style. But it is important that these words become deeds. The disrespect towards investors and donors in Armenia is fantastic reaches size. The problem is that I shouldn’t come and say I have problems, when I invest money in another country, they come and tell me what can we do to make you invest more. What are the problems that might occur? Believe me, you don’t need to open lavish tables, you need to develop a dialogue format between the state and business: not what you need, but what we can help you with in the format.

Third. You are now in Russia, where 2 million Armenians live. I don’t have an RA passport, I live my life, of course, worrying about the motherland. What can RA give to the Armenian community of Russia? We are used to hearing that everyone “must give” to RA, but what will RA give to the Diaspora? Here, too, there are disrespectful relations. “Give us money, we’ll treat you well, host the format” is unviable. What will you do to improve relations with the diaspora?” said the Prime Minister.

Answering Ruben Vardanyan’s question: Nikol Pashinyan talked about changing the tax code. He presented the income tax reduction project, said that they are discussing the option of exempting small businesses from certain taxes, and that the goal is to simplify the tax code.

“The largest branch of the economy in Armenia is agriculture, but neither the government nor the peasants know the price of potatoes. …We haven’t had such a formula in 25 years. …They could say who will enter where and how much, but the cost calculation was not done. …in RA, the process of lowering credit interest rates has started, we will provide some young people with an unprecedentedly low 5.5% mortgage loan,” said Pashinyan and expressed his surprise about the businessman’s question of establishing stability in the country. “I don’t understand why the topic of stability comes up from time to time. A revolution took place in RA, during which stability was not disturbed for a single minute. Now different people, journalists, are constantly writing about instability in the press, talking about civil war. What is this about, can someone explain to me? Today, the power in RA belongs to the people and will always belong to the people. What kind of instability do you predict? Do you want me? Let me declare that there will be stability in Armenia, and whoever decides that he will be in power will be in power. If there are forces in Armenia that want to bring instability, they will get an unequivocal answer. Then, of course, they will say that we are political prisoners, but we don’t care about their cries, I guarantee you. By instability I mean lawlessness. Everyone is free to carry out political activities according to the law…” Pashinyan said.

“We will not allow corruption to shed crocodile tears, or to say that we are friends of Russia, don’t say anything to us, if you say something to us, you are saying something to Russia. Russia’s friend is RA and the Armenian people, let no one consider himself and his clan to be Russia’s exclusive friend in RA,” he said.

N. Pashinyan noted that the Armenian community is not divided into its own and foreigners. Everyone is their friend and this, according to Pashinyan, is the biggest support.

“If the RA government doesn’t say what is the most profitable business in RA, you can help in that matter, you tell me what is that profitable business in RA. After all, that calculation must be based on public figures. I am surprised that you had so much nerve to ask the same question to 5-6 Prime Ministers over and over, recording that they have no answer. You have a very good team, and tell your team to hold the government and me personally accountable. I will keep that paper in my pocket, the next time they ask me, I will proudly say, “income” is like this, thank you Mr. Vardanyan for helping me find the answer to that question,” said N. Pashinyan.

In response, Ruben Vardanyan stated: “We would gladly do so, but since you have decided to stop the operation of such a structure… we received a note last week and assumed that you decided to do it yourself.”

“Are we talking about the Center for Strategic Initiatives?” asked the Prime Minister and continued. “That center has been operating for two years, until now the answer to that question has not been received. If it was one of the most important questions, then what did that center do?”

“Ask that question to the former prime minister,” he said Ruben Vardanyan:

“I became the prime minister and I saw that parallel to the ministries in RA there are alternative state systems: PIGs, SNOCs and they perform the functions that the ministries should perform. And these people receive higher salaries than the prime minister and the president, but when they call us, we ask what have you done, it turns out nothing. Our state system has an elite and a non-elite part, and the two have one thing in common: both do nothing. It’s just that some get high wages for doing nothing, and some get low. I say we stop this,” said Pashinyan.