Armenia`s premier declares war on smoking officials 

ArmInfo. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has decided to encourage those who like to write <denunciations>.

"A citizen called me the other day and said that he often sees civil servants smoking in cafes. There was no evidence, but I have no reason not to believe the citizen. The meaning of my post is as follows. Dear citizens, if you see a civil servant smoking in an outdoor or closed cafe (and not nearby), please take a photo and send it to me at the email address listed on this page. Or simply post it under this post. Civil servants, please read this post. Thank you," Pashinyan wrote in a social media post. 

Since March 15, 2022, the use of all types of tobacco products in open and closed restaurants, bars, other catering establishments, hotels, shopping centers, and other closed work areas has been banned in Armenia.

The fine for the violator will be 50,000 drams, and for the  establishment - 150-200,000 drams. Earlier, from January 1 of the same year, the public display of cigarettes and their substitutes in retail outlets and catering facilities was prohibited.

In 2019, justifying the draft of these bans, then Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan noted that cigarette manufacturers and importers paid 97 billion drams to the budget in 2018 (at the exchange rate at that time - about $ 206 million), and the Ministry of Health spent about 80 billion (more than $ 170 million) on the treatment of diseases associated with smoking. Indirect material costs for the state are related to the fact that illnesses reduce a person's ability to work.