January 21, 2011 - 15:43 AMT
Vazgen Safaryan: Armenian government is inappropriate place for doing internship

Head of the Public Council’s Committee on Financial, Economic and Budgetary Affairs Vazgen Safaryan said that the government is not an appropriate place for doing internship.

Thus, professionals should work there to avoid frequent cabinet reshuffles, Safaryan said in his comments on recent replacements in the Armenian government.

“The coalition government’s ideology does not show its worth to the best advantage. I consider politicization of the government to be wrong, as ministers should be appointed based on their professional qualities, but not their party membership,” noted Safaryan.

As for the agricultural field development, in which a new minister was appointed recently, the expert thinks that the field needs state’s assistance. “All countries, specifically, EU countries, allocate huge sums for agricultural subsidies, while Armenian farmers pay even for irrigation water,” said Safaryan.

He added that 70,000 out of 170,000 hectares of lands in Armenia have not been cultivated due to payments imposed for irrigation water.