ArmInfo. The outbreak of coronavirus in Armenia and the introduction of an emergency regime on March 16 negatively affected the restaurant industry: a number of local restaurants and other catering facilities decided to temporarily suspend their activities. Meanwhile, restaurateurs are in no hurry to calculate possible losses, noting the importance of consolidation in this difficult situation for the whole country.
As the executive director of the Armenian Restaurant Association Vahe Gevorgyan said in an interview with ArmInfo, the situation with coronavirus began to negatively affect the field since the beginning of the year. On the one hand, at that time there was not a single case of COVID-19 in the republic (the first patient with coronavirus was detected on March 1), however, the spread of the virus around the world significantly reduced tourist flow. , - said Gevorgyan. After the introduction of the emergency regime, many catering facilities closed their doors to visitors: some reoriented to delivering meals to homes, others concentrated on providing free food to health workers and isolated citizens.
''We took a two-week break to understand the further development of the situation. I think that the state of emergency will exacerbate the already difficult situation in the field but we hope that some stability will be ensured in the future. The state also needs time to navigate the current realities and analyze the information that will be provided by representatives of the business sector. We have just entered this stage, and now it's hard to say something specific'', Gevorgyan said. One of the pressing issues is related to the rent of restaurants: taking into account the high cost of renting in the capital, it will be difficult for "temporarily closed" restaurants to "swim out". said Gevorgyan. As for salary payments to the employees of restaurants that have suspended their activities, they are made in accordance with applicable law. , - said the head of the Association.