Higher living standards in Armenia - premier 

ArmInfo.  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claims that today people in Armenia live about 50% better. Crowded restaurants, vacations on the shores of Lake Sevan and queues for a Schengen visa that stretch for 6-7 months are the best proof of this.

"Some people react nervously to my statements that people began to  live about 50% better. On July 27, there were more than 50 thousand  people on the shores of Lake Sevan alone, the vast majority of whom  were residents of Yerevan and 9 regions. Coming to the shores of  Sevan with your family is an expense, and a significant one at that.  Where do these expenses come from and why wasn't it so large-scale  before?  There is no room in the restaurants of Yerevan and the  republic without a break. Until recently, going to a restaurant was a  luxury, an unaffordable luxury. Today, restaurants and cafes in  Armenia are springing up like mushrooms after the rain, and visiting  these restaurants and cafes is an expense. Where do these expenses  come from and why wasn't it so large-scale before? Moreover, the  nervousness that once existed about going to a restaurant with the  family has completely disappeared, because restaurants and cafes have  long ceased to be the domain of criminals," he wrote on the social  network.

In addition, the Prime Minister points out, people complain about  queues for tourist visas to EU countries, which sometimes stretch out  for 6-7 months, despite the fact that obtaining a visa is an expense  in itself, not to mention vacationing in European countries.

"Since 2018, the number of trips by Armenian citizens to EU countries  has increased exponentially. Do you understand, exponentially? Each  trip is an expense, tangible and significant. Where do these expenses  come from and why wasn't it done on such a scale before?

Yes, there is discontent with the fact that it was possible to pay  50% of the taxes established by law, give the remaining 25% to  various officials, and keep the rest for yourself... and spend it on  replacing car parts broken in potholes, buying airline tickets that  are four times more expensive, on the consequences of raising  children on the street due to the lack of kindergartens, on health  care costs, etc.

Sorry, but this is a completely unacceptable discontent, since the  well-being of a citizen depends primarily not on how much money he  spends on his well-being, but on how much local and state budgets  spend on the well-being of citizens. And the fact that this formula  works was shown on July 27, on Vardavar>, - Nikol Pashinyan  summarized.

In 2022, the then Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan  claimed that Yerevan traffic jams are an indicator of economic  activity.