Prime Minister with his wife visit Shirak region

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and his wife, Anna Hakobyan, visited the Shirak region. During the visit, Pashinyan got acquainted with the asphalt paving works on the section of the Isahakyan-Gyumri national road near the village of Bayandur.

According to a press release issued by the PM’s office, the repair work of the 9.923 km section of the highway is being carried out within the framework of the average repair program for state highways in the Armenian state budget. The government has allocated 599,988,800 drams for the implementation of the works, and about 90% of the works have been completed.

Afterward, the Prime Minister and his wife visited the Vardan Achemyan Drama Theater in Gyumri, where a jubilee event dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Shirak State University took place. The ceremony was also attended by the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Arayik Harutyunyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Davit Khudatyan, Acting Mayor of Gyumri Sarik Minasyan, representatives of legislative and executive bodies, the university's teaching staff, and students.

PM Pashinyan, welcoming those present, congratulated them on the occasion and noted that the activities of Shirak State University are highly appreciated. According to Nikol Pashinyan, the problem of society, individuals, people, and the state is how much we are able to transform ourselves by asking the right questions in accordance with the requirements of the time.

“And I want us to use these and similar anniversaries to create new platforms for our thoughts, to explore new paths for our future,” the Prime Minister said. Nikol Pashinyan expressed confidence that the development of the university system, regions, and cities will be discussed in more detail, but overall, strategic goals should be viewed with a completely different perspective.

The Prime Minister noted that it is necessary to clarify the goal of our university system and educational system in general. “The goal of our educational system should be one: for its graduates and students to live well, simply live well, earn as much as possible, and ensure the well-being of themselves and their families,” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized, adding that the success of students should be measured not on the scale of Gyumri and Shirak regions, but on the scale of the world. “We must explore the potential of our students on a global scale and consider our university system on the world’s university map,” the Prime Minister concluded his speech.

The last stop of PM Pashinyan's visit to Shirak region was Shirak Airport. The Prime Minister inspected the newly constructed departure hall of the airport. The completed works were presented to Pashinyan, who was informed that the new arrival and departure halls, which are already in operation, will be able to serve up to 1.2 million passengers annually.

 The departure hall occupies an area of 1,000 square meters with 2 boarding gates, the capacity to service 2 flights at the same time, 6 cameras for border services, and 450 square meters of space for duty-free shops and cafes. It should also be noted that parallel renovation works were carried out on the 700 square meter area of the old building at Shirak Airport, where it is planned to provide premises for state service organizations. The total investment in Shirak Airport amounted to about 14 million USD. The investments were carried out by Armenia International Airports CJSC.