Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan introduced newly appointed Minister Vahan Kerobyan to the staff of the Ministry of Economy. Nikol Pashinyan thanked outgoing Minister Tigran Khachatryan for the work done, noting that his resignation had no political reasons. Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope that the potential of Tigran Khachatryan will still be used in the further development of the economy.

The Prime Minister wished Vahan Kerobyan every success in his future activities: “Mr. Kerobyan comes to the state system from the private sector. We last talked to each other when Mr. Korobyan was criticizing the government for not paying enough attention to business and private sector. Now he has an opportunity to work with businesses and the private sector and raise the existing problems in the government; not only to raise them, but also to deal with them directly.”

According to the Prime Minister, he discussed Vahan Kerobyan’s candidacy with the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, two specialized commissions of the National Assembly. Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope that this formula, this combination will make Mr. Kerobyan’s work more effective in the status of minister. “This is basically a model that we have to test and see how it works when there is a real opportunity to come straight from the private sector, look at problems from a different perspective and try to make things better,” the Premier said.

Tigran Khachatryan thanked the Prime Minister and the ministry staff for their cooperation. “Mr. Prime Minister, during these two years no problem went unnoticed after being tabled for the government’s discussion under your leadership. I hope we managed to solve a significant part of the problems during this period. We faced challenging times, because the factors that emerged in the economy, especially over the past 9-10 months, had an unexpected impact on industry,” Tigran Khachatryan said, noting that there were many cases of reaction from the private sector that the government’s decisions, especially in the form of anti-crisis measures, had a targeted impact, creating preconditions for positive changes.

“I think the private sector is waiting for the Ministry of Economy to continue working in the same spirit. I am very glad that Mr. Kerobyan came from the private sector and has an accurate idea of existing problems. He has the same working style and the same values. Mr. Kerobyan, I wish you every success. I want to assure that the staff of the ministry is highly professional and will continue to solve problems under your leadership. I hope and believe that success will not be long in coming,” Tigran Khachatryan said.

Vahan Karobyan thanked the Prime Minister for confidence and Tigran Khachatryan - for the work done in the previous two years. “Despite the fact that I criticized your work, your work is still worthy of respect and admiration because the team that was formed, the problems that arose before the end of the first quarter of this year were solved brilliantly. In my opinion, the coronavirus and military situation brought new realities, and the priorities have changed. That is, we are now in a completely different reality, both in terms of speed and scale of problems. I believe that the team I met today is capable of solving the problems, because I feel a desire to solve the tasks facing our country. The concept of Armenia-2050 has remained the same despite the horrors of the war, and it will be the center of our attention. It will be a guideline according to which we should move forward with an average 10% economic growth. We have no other option but to succeed,” the newly appointed minister said.