Mayor of Gyumri Blasts Armenian Government Over Mismanaged Public Funds

During a meeting of the Gyumri Council of Elders, Ghukasyan addressed members of the Civil Contract party faction, sharply criticizing the government’s management of public funds. “Where is this money? Your party has been ruling Armenia for seven years, you take out a billion-dollar loan every year, and today Armenia’s debt has reached 14 billion. Not a single factory has been built in Armenia. And you dare say you’ve done anything? All our children and grandchildren will have to answer for this money later,” he stated.

Ghukasyan argued that if the government had qualified specialists and a strong talent pool, it would prioritize job creation and industrial development, emphasizing that the state must maintain ownership of property. He added that the local government could achieve more “if the ministries don’t interfere”.

The mayor also highlighted tax collection issues, revealing that around 1,000 legal entities pay disproportionately low property taxes. “There are hotels with a fixed occupancy rate; they should pay 3–5 million drams (€6,680–€11,140), but they pay only 170,000 drams (€380),” he noted. He further stated that approximately 100 million drams (€223,000) in land lease payments had gone uncollected over the years. “The deadlines have passed, and today all this has been left to me,” he emphasized.

Ghukasyan claimed progress in fiscal management, saying, “We have increased the budget by 1 billion 100 million drams (€2,450,000), and that’s exactly how we work”.

Commenting on the remarks of Knarik Harutyunyan, a member of the Civil Contract party faction, Ghukasyan stated that “ninety percent of her speech was more about Nikol Pashinyan and the Parliament deputies than about the mayor of Gyumri or the members of the Council of Elders”. He also accused her of using intimidation tactics, saying, “You’re using the language of blackmail, saying: ‘If you vote, don’t hold it against us in the future.’ In other words, you’re initiating cases against people to warn them who you’re targeting next”.

Addressing the recent detentions of clergy, Ghukasyan condemned the government’s actions, stating, “If bishops and other clergy are imprisoned, that means you’re not a supporter of free speech. You can’t talk about it. It’s all simply fabricated. I lived in the Soviet Union and never saw anything like it, except in 1937, as my elders told me. The same thing is happening now”.

Concluding his remarks, Ghukasyan announced plans to raise municipal employee salaries by 25% next year, asserting confidently, “I know where the money is”.