Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the newly elected Mayor of Yerevan Hrachya Sargsyan, the head of the "My Step" faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders Armen Galjyan, and the secretary of the faction Levon Hovhannisyan.

In his speech Prime Minister Pashinyan said, “Dear Sirs, I welcome you. First of all, Mr. Sargsyan, let me congratulate you on your election as Mayor of Yerevan and thank the Council of Elders of Yerevan, in particular, "My Step" faction, in the person of faction leader Mr. Galjyan, the faction secretary Mr. Hovhannisyan for showing a solid position.

I want to record that the situation we had in Yerevan Municipality was an institutional situation, an institutional problem. And that problem was solved institutionally. What do I mean? After all, the pre-election program of the "My Step" bloc has been implemented in Yerevan since the fall of 2018, and the political responsibility lies with the "My Step" bloc and the political majority. I would like to emphasize that this program, in turn, was based on the principles of the "Yelq" bloc's pre-election program during the Yerevan Council of Elders elections in 2017. In this respect, it is important for the program to be fully and institutionally accomplished. And I must also state, Mr. Sargsyan, that up to this stage you have been a full participant in the implementation of that program, holding the position of the First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan. Our colleagues in the Council of Elders of Yerevan have also fulfilled their functions in that regard.

I attach importance to the process that took place also in terms of the accomplishment of state institutions. Because you know that elections of Council of Elder are now taking place in all communities with a population of more than 4,000. In other words, the election of a community head is indirect. And from the viewpoint of institutionality, it is impossible for a community leader to work without having a majority in the Council of Elders. This is a simple political logic. And this is the problem that has been solved.

We should note that today we have a harmonious situation between the Mayor of Yerevan, the Council of Elders and the political majority. This is very important. Of course, I think it is very important for the Mayor to cooperate with the opposition factions of the Council of Elders, because the unifying role is very important here as well. At this moment, I want to say that so far we have provided all kind of support to the Yerevan Municipality, and, of course, from now on, that support must continue. Of course, we must also aditionally discuss and get solutions to the directions, pace, methods, deadlines of the program implementation. I wish all of us success in this work. You should know that you enjoy my and the Government’s full support. The harmony between the Mayor, the Council of Elders, the Government, the political majority must create a synergy effect that will be better reflected in the lives of the resident of Yerevan”.

Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan thanked the Prime Minister for the trust and congratulations. "I realize that this is quite a big responsibility. In general, I have the understanding of which institutions need to be completely transformed, and which ones will still work as institutions to withstand various shocks, to realize their functions. I think, with the support of the Government, we will be able to implement the programs in the most populous community, Yerevan, that have not been implemented over the years for unknown reasons. I think there is the potential, we just need to carry out effective management to be able to use that potential."

Issues related to the cooperation between the Government and the Yerevan Municipality and the programs to be implemented in the capital city were discussed at the meeting.