There are expenditures that must be made: First Deputy PM on his departure to Dushanbe by PM’s plane
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YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS. First Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan summed up the results of the session of the Council of the CIS heads of government which was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan from May 31 to June 1, reports Armenpress.
The First Deputy PM informed via Facebook that during the session a number of agreements were signed covering a wide range of sectors, such as development of intellectual property market, standardization, energy innovation and etc. A number of issues of mutual interest were discussed.
“We also had an informal meeting with the prime ministers of the CIS states. During both formal and informal meetings I conveyed several important messages to our partners according to which Armenia will continue developing the cooperation within the CIS. I have also informed that according to the Constitutional changes in Armenia, the president’s powers, in fact, have been conveyed to the prime minister, and that of the PM to the First Deputy PM, therefore, Armenia will be represented by the Prime Minister in the format of the leaders of the CIS states and by the First Deputy PM at the Council of heads of government”, Ararat Mirzoyan said.
He also informed that Armenia’s delegation members – deputy PM Mher Grigoryan, minister of economic development and investments Artsvik Minasyan, deputy minister of transport, communication and information technologies Hakob Arshakyan, deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan had a chance for substantive meetings with their partners, discussed a number of prospective issues for the economy.
“I assess both the contacts that occurred during the visit, the discussed programs and signed agreements very positively and really important for our country”, the First Deputy PM said.
Commenting on the media reports which state that Mirzoyan could depart for Dushanbe by an ordinary plane, rather than by the PM’s plane, he stated: “Upon my return I was informed that several media outlets and Facebook users have questioned the appropriateness of our departure by the PM’s plane. Let me note that otherwise our delegation consisting of 20 people (including media representatives) would have to depart via Moscow, with different flights and in that case again it would pay huge, almost the same money for tickets, food and hotel.
However, the most important thing was that we would have to depart on May 30 and return on June 2. And wasting two business days on our way would be a real luxury for me. Sorry, but I cannot allow this to myself on these days, since my working schedule is so busy that I go to work early in the morning and return later in the evening.
The financial savings, of course, are among our priorities, and we are consistently moving on this path. At the same time we need to understand that there are expenditures that must be made for the effective work of the public administrative system, and why not, for our country’s proper presentation”.
English – translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan