Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan introduced newly appointed Minister Mesrop Arakelyan to the staff of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The Premier thanked former Minister Zaruhi Batoyan for the work done during her tenure and wished Mesrop Arakelyan every success in his future activities.

“In general, it can be assumed that due to a number of circumstances, social tensions will increase in connection with the pandemic and the economic impact of the war. We will have to speed up our efforts in order to achieve concrete results. I just told Mr. Arakelyan that no time is left to understand the specifics of his duties and get down to work. We need to start working immediately and achieve concrete results. I hope that Mrs. Batoyan and the staff of the ministry will assist the newly appointed minister in his work. This is our common task and we should concentrate our efforts on solving this problem,” Prime Minister Pashinyan said.

Zaruhi Batoyan thanked the Prime Minister for trust and cooperation. “It was a great honor for me to work in the government of the Republic of Armenia and serve the citizens of the Republic of Armenia. I would like to express special gratitude to the staff for hard work done during the epidemic, as well as during the war.

We all know that when there is a problem, its consequences first of all manifest themselves in the social sphere. We had planned to make a lot of systemic changes in 2020, but the challenges that emerged afterwards prevented us from bringing them to completion. Nevertheless, we have done a lot of preparatory work, and I hope that together with Mr. Arakelyan we will be able to carry out these works as well.

As a supporter of equal opportunities and a person specialized in the sphere of social affairs, I will continue to serve the Republic of Armenia. Wishing every success to Mr. Arakelyan, I would like to state that I am ready to support the work of the ministry, help advance the ongoing programs in close touch with both the minister and our colleagues in the ministry,” Zaruhi Batoyan said.

In turn, newly appointed Minister Mesrop Arakelyan thanked the Prime Minister for confidence. “As Mrs. Batoyan noted, this year was very complicated in terms of social affairs and the ministry’s functions and responsibilities were indeed difficult in this respect. I would also like to highlight the problems that need to be addressed without delay. My goal and that of the ministry team is to achieve new results on a daily basis. I assure you that in a very short time we will achieve significant results in order to ease the situation, bearing in mind those priorities specified in the government programs that we plan to implement in the social sphere,” the newly appointed minister said.