Rise in gas prices causes staff reduction in Armenia

By Azernews

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Staff reduction has become actual at Gazprom Armenia following the recent decision to increase prices for "blue fuel".

An employee of the company said that half of the workers had already sent notice of dismissal. He said that the reason is associated with an increase in gas prices.

Discussions about staff cuts began due to changes in gas prices at the border. From January 1, 2019, the price of Russian gas increased from $150 to $165 per 1,000 cubic meters, while the tariff for the population remained the same.

"In connection with this, workers are discussing a number of issues, including cost reduction and staff optimization," the report says.

Earlier, journalists attacked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with questions about staff reduction. In response, the prime minister supported the company's intentions to leave several thousand people on the street because of the need to cut costs.

Pashinyan stated that there is no need to pay for extra jobs that are not necessary.

The problem of closing enterprises and mass reductions in Armenia today is becoming the most urgent and painful. Judging by Pashinyan’s answer, the government will do nothing to support the citizens.

Remarkable that the Prime Minister of Armenia from the PACE rostrum stated that during his rule 50,000 new jobs had already opened in Armenia.

In connection with this, the Heritage party addressed the Prime Minister with an open letter, in which it demanded to make public the data on those 50,000 jobs that he spoke about in PACE. According to verelq.am, the Heritage Party has objections to this account arising from official statistics.

The open letter of the party says that as of February, 2019, 20.8 percent of the working-age population of Armenia - 228,800 people are unemployed.

This indicator practically does not differ from the indicators recorded in previous months. Analytical reports on the situation in the industry say that in many industries, in particular, metallurgy and the mining industry, there is an obvious decline in indicators, which was accompanied by the closure of jobs.

The party hopes that the prime minister will publish a certificate about the real number of open jobs and in what areas such progress has been recorded.

Against this background, in the near future, several thousand more unemployed will appear in Armenia, who will very soon demand bread from Pashinyan. Spectacular Armenian citizens have seen enough over the past year.