To justify the relentless waste of state funds, Nikol Pashinyan often repeats the idea that the authorities spend state money as effectively as citizens spend their family budgets.

Of course, it is not appropriate to make such a comparison, because the citizen spends his own money, and the government spends the citizen’s money, but even if it is so, no citizen can afford to waste money from his own pocket as they waste it in the Yerevan Municipality.

In this case, we are talking about “Yerevan bus” company operating under Yerevan Municipality. In the event that the price of 1 liter of diesel fuel in the market is 510, the maximum is 520 AMD, “Yerevan Bus” CJSC buys the same diesel fuel for 545 AMD. At the same time, with a “binder”, which is usually much cheaper than the retail price.

He buys at that price, because that money is not his money, and he can afford such an extravagance. Then they complain that the citizens do not pay the fare.

Will they pay you to give the wind mercilessly like this?

A few days ago, Mesrop Manukyan, a member of the “Mother Armenia” faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders, referred to the process of purchasing diesel fuel carried out by “Yerevan Bus” CJSC. It was recorded that on May 6, the company purchased around 500,000 liters of diesel fuel from one person for 545 drams per liter. In the case that in the same period, the retail price of diesel fuel at filling stations was about AMD 510-520.

According to Mesrop Manukyan, as a result of this transaction, the company subordinate to the municipality purchased the fuel at a significantly higher price than the market price, as a result of which the Yerevan community suffered a loss of around 60 million drams.

“Yerevan Bus” hastened to respond to this discovery, directly confirming what the council member said.

“In order to purchase diesel fuel for the needs of the Yerevan Bus company, 3 open, competitive and transparent purchase procedures were organized in advance with the codes EA-EACHAPPSD-26/11, EA-HBMAPPSD-26/17 and EA-EACHAPPSD-26/20. In other words, the company initially chose not an urgent or limited, but a competitive format, giving market participants the opportunity to submit price offers.

The procedures, however, did not take place, because only the company “CPES ENERGY GROUP” participated in them, whose price proposals exceeded the estimated value of AMD 500 for 1 liter, making AMD 550 for 1 liter. In addition, the same company, being the current supplier of diesel fuel, on March 24, 2026, officially refused the offer to supply an additional amount of diesel fuel at the price specified in the contract, citing global inflation, “Yerevan Bus” announced.

After the announced tenders are not held, “Yerevan Bus” organizes a one-person purchase based on urgency. Calling for 7 potential participants. Within the specified period, two companies submitted bids: SIPIES GENERAL with a price offer of AMD 550 per liter and Premium Oil with AMD 545 per liter.

“Since “Premium Oil” offered the lowest price compared to the offers submitted by the law and in the invitation, on that basis the “Yerevan Bus” company chose it, which was derived from the principles of competition, transparency and equal treatment of participants in the procurement process.” the fact that at that moment the prices of diesel fuel in the market are much lower than the presented offers was.

And despite that, they signed a contract to buy hundreds and thousands of liters of diesel fuel, “hiding behind the shortcomings of the law.”

They make excuses that they were guided by the requirements of the “Procurement” law. Let’s assume that it is so, but where is common sense?

If they had offered 600 or 700 drams instead of 545, would they have signed a contract and justified themselves by saying that they did so within the framework of the law?

It should be noted that just 1 day after announcing the decision to sign the contract, one of the companies that participated in the tender turned to “Yerevan Bus” and offered to supply diesel fuel for 500 drams per liter. It was 45 drams lower than the price of the signed contract.

As a result of this transaction, how much damage did the city budget of Yerevan suffer, the calculations may be different. But it is clear that price changes in the fuel market do not happen in 1 day. However, “Yerevan Bus” did not pay attention to these changes, did not study the market or studied but ignored them. Why, that is probably the task of other bodies to find out.

While such vicious manners prevail in the Yerevan Municipality, the 9% mayor of Yerevan, Tigran Avinyan, has devoted himself to CP propaganda these days with all his might, he is measuring the streets of the capital city and making “bland” statements, instead of doing his job.

They spend the citizens’ money with such “efficiency”, and then raise the price of fares, point the finger at the citizens, and accuse them of not being able to buy new buses. Due to insufficient funds, they raised the fares on time. They raised it so that they could afford such extravagances.

You know that the same product is 510-520 drams in the market, and everyone can buy it for that amount, but you go and buy it for 545 drams.

What is the logic of this? Even if we consider that the law allows it, that there is no corruption here, this is an obvious waste of state funds, for which they will have to answer one day.

HAKOB KOCHARYAN

—

Nikol Pashinyan stops at nothing to please his foreign patrons. He is ready to do harm to Armenia and the Armenian people until the end. Under the guise of sovereignty, he destroys the economy of the country, not caring about the consequences.

It has created such challenges that threaten to blow up the economy and put the people in front of another tough test.

The cold winters that Nikol Pashinyan’s foreign sponsors promised to Armenia and the Armenian people are gradually beginning to emerge. The revision of the terms of Russian gas supply, which is no longer mere talk, threatens to paralyze not only Armenia’s energy system, but also the entire economy. Nikol Pashinyan’s remarks that cut off the gas, we will have ours, is another mockery of the people. Armenia does not have its own gas and cannot have it.

It is ridiculous to hope that one day a gas pipeline will be built “Trump’s way” and Armenia will take its share of it. The people and the economy cannot wait for years until such a gas pipeline passes through Armenia. It is still a question: will it pass or not? No one’s eyes froze to provide Armenia with “own gas”.

Even if it is possible to buy replacement expensive gas, the economy will not withstand its burden. Even more so when it loses the main sales market, having no alternative. We see how, step by step, Armenia’s economy is being left out of one of its main sales markets.

The problem is not only mere restrictions. During these restrictions, Armenian products are replaced by products from other countries, and in the future, even if the restrictions are lifted, it will be much more difficult to return to the previous positions.

As is known, the florists were kicked out from May 22. The possibility of exporting Armenian flowers to its main market was closed. In the absence of an alternative, flower growers throw away the fruits of their labor, standing on the verge of bankruptcy.

As a result of losing the market, bankruptcy threatens not only florists, but also greenhouse owners in general, most of whom are under loans and have problems repaying loans. Even if they somehow manage to sell their products in the domestic market, it will no longer bring the benefits that they could expect in the case of exports.

Agricultural producers and farms in general are under attack, many of whom hope mainly for the foreign market. 90-95 percent of agricultural products exported from Armenia have gone to a place that is now being closed for it.

The Russian Consumer Rights Protection Service has restricted the entry of Armenian agricultural products to the Russian market since May 30. Restrictions at this stage refer to fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, greens and strawberries delivered from Armenia. The restriction will continue until an appropriate algorithm is developed to ensure the security of the delivered products. It is not known when it will be developed.

Restrictions are related to phytosanitary issues. In addition, the Russian consumer rights protection service has doubts that not all products of Armenian origin and delivered from Armenia are actually Armenian.

Accusations are being made against the Ministry of Economy. They believe that after the dissolution of the Ministry of Agriculture and the transfer of its functions to that Ministry, the latter cannot cope with the powers assigned to it. We are talking about a ministry whose head these days, instead of assisting producers and exporters, dealing with the solution of the problems that have arisen, and finding alternatives, measures the streets and engages in CP propaganda. It’s okay that people face the risk of losing their entire year’s worth of work and expected income.

For several days now, hundreds of Armenian trucks loaded with goods have been standing in Upper Lars and cannot cross the border. A part has already been returned. People are in a desperate situation, and there is no one from the ruling elite to take an interest in the problems of these people. All are engaged in political propaganda.

The sad thing is that greenhouse owners, farmers, producers, exporters, thousands of families who are involved in all of this and get their income from it suffer from all of this. They suffer, but the officials don’t need it. One more thing they are saying and exacerbating the situation. All the same, they will not be the victims. They advance their interests at the expense of the people, and it doesn’t matter how the people will get out of it tomorrow.

They speak on behalf of the people, but there is no one who takes the people into account.

They speak on behalf of the business, but there is no one to ask the business what the business wants. They decide, they do it themselves and make everyone face the facts.

The sale of the third large batch of “Jermuk” is already being blocked. When the sale of around 400,000 and then 1 million bottles of “Jermuk” was suspended in April, they said it was a trifle, the company exports millions of bottles. Then it was the turn of millions of bottles. First, the sale of 37 million, and now 64.5 million, was blocked.

These are serious volumes for any company, and not only that company, the citizens employed in it, but also the country’s economy suffer from it. It suffers because some people have mixed economic and political interests. They prefer their own political interests to the interests of the economy and citizens. They put the country into a dangerous game, knowing full well that they can never come out of it as a winner. They declared war on their own economy and people.

The only hope is that all this will end soon. Alternatively, backand:They will be harsh on the economy, business, and citizens. We will not survive the promised few cold winters.

HAKOB KOCHARYAN

—

We inform you that this year on May 31 EuroNewsThe results of the social survey published by and published in some Armenian mass media, in which reference is made to the company “Brevis”, do not reflect the published results of the survey conducted by us.

The official publication of the survey conducted on May 5-11 by the order of the International Republican Institute (IRI) as of 22.05.2026. only this is available by reference:

We also announce that the company “Brevis” is responsible only for the implementation of field work, the questions related to the research methodology and analysis are within the competence of the client.

—

During the entire pre-election campaign, Nikol Pashinyan, speaking about the forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians from Artsakh, declared that: “There are forces in Armenia that do not want the Artsakh Armenians to settle in Armenia.”

He repeated this same idea today during the campaign in Malatia-Sebastia, saying that millions of projects are being implemented in Armenia for Artsakh Armenians.

Metaxe Hakobyan, deputy of Artsakh NA “Justice” faction in other words, apart from CP, there is no political force in Armenia that is against Artsakh Armenians staying in Artsakh.

“It is obvious that this force is the political force led by Nikol Pashinyan, that is, CP, because the millions of programs they invented and presented to the public are actually a bubble. Any material support for Artsakh Armenians, if of course he considers that Artsakh Armenians should live in Armenia for the sake of support, then there is no such thing. Today, people are facing an unsolvable housing problem, they also have no job. Now they are in a worse situation than when they were displaced, because in the beginning people supported their existence with the money they saved.” of 168.am Metakse Hakobyan said in a conversation with

According to him, the Armenians of Artsakh have many questions to the RA government about where the money that was allegedly given to the Armenians of Artsakh was wasted.

“Let Nikol not dare to sell Artsakh to us, and that too with fake banknotes, his statements are about this. All the conspiracies that are organized are organized by Nikol Pashinyan and his team, there is no conspiracy by any other force. All national forces and organizations have the same message that Artsakh Armenians should live in RA and should live with dignity until they return to Artsakh, their homeland,” added Metaxe Hakobyan.

As for Nikol Pashinyan’s statements that he has closed the issue of the return of Artsakh Armenians once and for all, and there is an agreement with Azerbaijan in that regard, “on closing the issue of refugees”, our interlocutor noted that under any circumstances and with any outcome of the elections, no one should think that the issue of the return of Artsakh Armenians is closed or that the issue of Artsakh does not exist.

“If the issue of Artsakh was closed, Nikol Pashinyan, the dictator of Azerbaijan, would not talk about it incessantly, they know about it very well. We are not the only ones talking about the Artsakh issue not being closed. Prominent figures and organizations of the international community are gradually making more statements about it. As for the “return to both sides”, Nikol Pashinyan put this talk on the agenda, because Azerbaijan knows well that the issue of the return of Artsakh Armenians to Artsakh has nothing to do with the issue of Azerbaijanis who moved to Azerbaijan during the Soviet years. So, let our people understand well what disasters will await our country in the event of their reproduction”, emphasized Metakse Hakobyan.

—

The sharp escalation in Armenian-Russian relations and the sharp rhetoric of high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation took a new turn in the protocol in recent days. The phone call of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Nikol Pashinyan on the occasion of his birthday takes place against the background of unprecedented freezing of bilateral relations and direct economic sanctions applied by Moscow.

The phone call was on the occasion of Pashinyan’s birthday, according to reports, the Russian President congratulated Pashinyan on his birthday and sent his best wishes. “The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia thanked the President of the Russian Federation for his balanced positions, friendly tone, and support on a number of issues that give rise to mutual understanding. The interlocutors have agreed to continue the discussions on the next convenient occasion in the format of a meeting,” said the message of the RA government.

It is noteworthy that the phone call takes place against the background of rather alarming developments in Armenian-Russian relations, to put it mildly, when Russian officials warn the RA authorities about the incompatibility of EU integration and EAEU membership. They also do it with rather harsh words, calling Nikol Pashinyan a “scoundrel”, which Dmitry Medvedev did the other day. In parallel, the Russian side imposes sanctions on Armenian products, prohibiting some of them from entering the Russian market, in some cases, finding problems in the products, etc.

A few days ago, at the end of the EAEU session held in Astana, it became known that all EAEU leaders addressed the situation around Armenia in a statement, considering Armenia’s European integration aspirations as risky for EAEU countries. It said: “Taking into account the steps taken by Armenia to join the European Union, including the law “On the initiation of the process of accession of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union” adopted by the RA National Assembly in 2025 and signed by the President of the Republic, as well as the reaffirmation of Armenia’s European aspirations by the EU in the joint declaration adopted as a result of the first Armenia-European Union summit held on May 5, 2026, as well as the economic security of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter referred to as the Union) the risks that arise in connection with the preparation of the Republic of Armenia to join the European Union, it was decided that the representatives of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia in the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council will report on the possible consequences of suspending the operation of the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty on the Republic of Armenia at the regular session of the Eurasian Economic Union to be held in December 2026.” The presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan also highlighted the issue of holding a nationwide referendum in Armenia as soon as possible on joining the European Union or remaining a member of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The contradiction between Russia’s pressure and the call to Pashinyan has given rise to discussions in political and expert circles, but it seems to fit into the logic of combining asymmetric pressures and high-level diplomatic etiquette used in foreign policy.

The political context of the situation is more than alarming. In this multi-layered pressure system, Vladimir Putin’s call is a tool to keep the last line of communication open and the situation under control. Analysts familiar with the foreign policy style of the current Russian leader often claim that in the Kremlin’s foreign policy it is customary to separate technical and economic sanctions and tough rhetoric at the executive level from the personal diplomacy of the head of state.

Moscow used similar tactics in 2016 during the extreme crisis of relations with Turkey (the call to Erdogan after the coup attempt) and in 2020 during the “oil and gas war” and political public disputes with Belarus (Lukashenko’s birthday greetings). These precedents show that the President of the Russian Federation maintains a formal link in order to control the degree of escalation of the crisis and to maintain the last line.

With all this, this telephone conversation does not at all mean a strategic retreat by Moscow or a resolution of the crisis. Russia has entered the stage of pragmatic rigidity, and the dynamics of Armenian-Russian relations in the near future will depend not on ceremonial gestures, but on the effectiveness of Yerevan’s political and economic maneuvers before the meeting of the EAEU Supreme Council expected in December. However, the RA authorities highly appreciate this call, consider it effective and warm, thinking that all issues will be resolved.

It is also interesting that, parallel to the call of the Russian President, today the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, who recently called Pashinyan a “scoundrel”, publicly drew a parallel between Nikol Pashinyan and Lev Trotsky, and then expressed the opinion that Armenia wants to enjoy all the advantages of EAEU, skillfully using Russia and other countries of the Union. Medvedev also recalled that Trotsky’s attempt to follow the same pattern led to the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, but with much stricter terms. In conclusion, Medvedev emphasized that Lev Trotsky’s own winding path had a tragic end.

Medvedev believes that such tactics can be dangerous for the Armenian leader himself. In the context of Putin’s call, Medvedev’s statement is another direct geopolitical warning from Russia. while the Russian President keeps the window of personal communication within the framework of diplomatic etiquette, the Vice President of the Security Council hints that the delay in decisions, like Trotsky’s example, can lead to many other consequences for Armenia.

—