On July 27, there were more than 50 thousand people on the shores of Lake Sevan alone. Coming to the shores of Lake Sevan with a family is an expense, where does that expense come from? Pashinyan

Some people react nervously to my claims that people are living about 50 percent better, wrote Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

"On July 27, there were more than 50 thousand people on the shores of Lake Sevan alone, the overwhelming majority from Yerevan and 9 regions. Coming to the shores of Lake Sevan with a family is an expense, a tangible expense. So where does that expense come from and why wasn't it done on this scale before?"

There is no place or pause in the restaurants of Yerevan and the republic. Until recently, going to a restaurant was a luxury, an unattainable luxury. Today, restaurants and cafes are growing like mushrooms in Armenia, visiting these restaurants and cafes is an expense. So where does this expense come from and why wasn't it done on this scale before? Moreover, the former nerve of going to a restaurant with the family has completely disappeared, because restaurants and cafes have long ceased to be the domain of criminally insane people.

People complain about the queues for tourist visas to EU countries, which sometimes stretch for 6–7 months. Applying for a visa is an expense in itself, not to mention traveling to European countries on vacation, and since 2018, trips by Armenian citizens to EU countries have increased exponentially. Do you understand, exponentially? Every trip is an expense, a tangible and significant expense. So where does this expense come from and why wasn’t it done on this scale before?

Yes, there is dissatisfaction that it was possible to pay 50 percent of the taxes prescribed by law, give the remaining 25 percent to various officials, and keep the rest... and spend it on replacing car parts smashed in potholes, buying airline tickets that are four times more expensive, the consequences of raising children on the streets due to the lack of kindergartens, healthcare costs, and so on.

Sorry, but this is an absolutely unacceptable complaint, because the well-being of a citizen does not depend primarily on how much money he spends on his well-being, but rather on how much local and state budgets spend on the well-being of citizens.

"And the fact that this formula works was evident on July 27, Vardavar," he noted.