Armenia's Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan told journalists on Thursday that if he had an own rather than office car, he would also carry people free of charge.
"I hope that the actors that are carrying people free of charge are not acting but are doing it sincerely," he said, when asked to comment on the initiative of some public figures, actors and journalists to carry people free of charge in protest of the Yerevan Municipality's decision to raise the public transport fare in the city.
He said that it was a hard decision for Yerevan's Mayor. "If it was done for making certain people richer, the Government is against, but the problem is that for 100 AMD we have dirty buses driven by unshaved drivers, buses where people are forced to sit on each other's knees and to listen to Arab and Turkish folk music," the Minister said.
He suggests diversifying the fare. "For students and poor people it may be lower," he said.
It should be noted that the quality of the public transport services has not changed after the rise in the fare and people are still forced to bear all the inconveniences the Minister has mentioned – simply now they are paying 50 AMD more.