Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan stated at the launch of the Government meeting today, “The four-day war made us all reevaluate our efforts”.

In particular, the Prime Minister observed in his speech:

“Are we developing? Are we fighting corruption? Is our Army really combat effective? The answer is yes. However, is it enough for us to resist new challenges? I believe I will express everybody’s opinion by answering “No”. We have to become more efficient as a state. Our resources are limited, but we can compensate for the lack of resources with two factors: implementation of efficient models and speed in their realization.”

He noted that the Government will launch regular weekly discussions on May 14.

“I ask all those who have suggestions to present them briefly to Government Chief of Staff Davit Harutyunyan. The Diaspora also made noteworthy research on the ways of development for Armenia. The “Armenians in 2015” report published by Gulbenkian Foundation recently is a great example. Such reserches should also become a subject of thorough examination,” noted the Prime Minister.

“First. Although we have an established budget, we should shift to a more economic regime. We have to form an administration with minimal investment, cut the expenses that have no essential impact on efficiency - business trips, expenses of representatives, renovation works, official cars, etc. We will take certain steps as soon as today.

Second. The state administration should become more compact. This concerns not only the staff of the Ministries, but also SNCOs, PIUs, related agencies and separated departments.

These two approaches can result in certain social tension conditioned by job redundancy in the state system. However, we didn’t take measures of this kind for many years to prevent social tension exactly. Current situation is truly atypical, and we shouldn’t avoid atypical measures and decisions.

The third direction is the fight against corruption. Displays of corruption should become a subject of special evaluation in each agency, through social surveys as well. Both heads of departments and law enforcement fighting corruption should publicly report on the dynamics of the process.

As the head of the executive Government, I fully realize and understand that not all solutions mentioned earlier will be successful if we don’t ensure sustainable long-term economic growth. I frequently faced public critisism in the last two years, accusations that the state doesn’t fight the formed monopolies. I admit that the Government has not been consecutive enough in completely revealing this issue and didn’t initiate an open public discussion in time.

It’s time to correct the error. I instruct the Minister of Economy and suggest the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition to analyze the monopolies currently existing in Armenia and their effect on free competition and suggest efficient solutions that can correct the situation at hand, cooperating with various international organizations in Armenia and presenting the results of the work in undertime, no later that in three weeks.” said Hovik Abrahamyan.