Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs to introduce newly appointed Acting Minister Gabriel Ghazaryan.

Nikol Pashinyan thanked former Minister Levon Vahradyan for joint work. Congratulating Gabriel Ghazaryan for appointment, the Acting Prime Minister said that the latter had long worked as minister and was familiar with the problems of the sphere.

Nikol Pashinyan pointed out that there is great untapped potential both in the field of youth affairs and sports, for which it is necessary to adopt a more effective approach to problems: to inspire our athletes, create conditions for enthusiasm to turn into tangible results, and to value the results so achieved.

“It is not an exaggeration if I say that sport has a special significance for the state, one can even say that this is a sphere related to national security, because every time the anthem of Armenia is played on the world’s sports arenas, this seriously increases our reputation countries with all the consequences. Of course, this is the visible side of the iceberg, and all this will be impossible if we are not able to raise children's and youth sports to the proper level, physical education in our schools.

If we look within this logic, sport, physical education and a healthy lifestyle are already in a broader sense a problem of national security, especially in the 21st century. It seems to me that we should think not only about sporting achievements, but also that sporting achievements become more likely at a time when the maximum number of people play sports and physical education. So this is truly a strategic direction, and our objectives are also strategic.

We know that we have limitations in terms of opportunities, but the main political meaning of our current period is that we expand and must expand the boundaries of what is possible for our country and our people. This is probably our biggest political mission,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

The Acting Prime Minister wished Gabriel Ghazaryan every success and expressed the hope that the government’s activities would help stimulate healthy lifestyles, popularize physical culture and sports, as well as the active participation of young people in the social, political, sporting and cultural life of the country.

Gabriel Ghazaryan thanked Nikol Pashinyan for confidence, noting that there are a number of programs developed by the Ministry aimed at developing sports and youth in the aforementioned areas.

The Acting Prime Minister assured of his support for the implementation of programs to promote the development of the field and referred to the issue of funding.

“People naturally have demands on the government. These requirements will not be fully satisfied if citizens do not treat their tax obligations with the same perseverance. This is a very important triangle, because a citizen who rightly requires certain decisions from the government, he himself must participate in these decisions, because if he pays taxes properly, his demands will increase. Of course, we must ensure that the citizen is confident that the taxes paid by him will not be stolen, or squandered. I mean that all these problems should be solved in cooperation,” Nikol Pashinyan pointed out.

The Acting Prime Minister emphasized that new times are times of work, not of poverty and complaints of poverty: “We must do everything to encourage labor, including professional sports, so that sport and its results could inspire others, and for that there should be as many citizens who pay taxes in good faith in the country. Our task is to ensure that the taxes paid are not wasted, but were spent as efficiently as possible. Development is possible when each of us will perform his own work, and I am sure that you will do your work.”