The Yerevan Municipality's arguments for raising the public transport fare to 150 AMD are absurd as the real fare must be no more than 70-80 AMD, former Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Bagrat Asatryan told journalists on Monday.
"Their maintenance costs are overstated. But what really matter here is that instead of carrying 13 people our 13-seat microbuses carry 25-30 people thereby giving their owners huge profits," Asatryan said.
Member of Prosperous Armenia Party Vardan Bostanjyan said that rising prices are a global trend. "But you can't redouble a fare at once. This is simply inadmissible," he said.
Concerning the public response to the rise, Asatryan said that in Armenia there can be no mass protests, while Bostanjyan believes that the youths currently protesting against the rise in the streets are the country's future.