Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan introduced the newly appointed Chairman of the State Revenue Committee, Eduard Hakobyan, to the State Revenue Committee staff.

The Prime Minister first thanked the former Chairman of the State Revenue Committee, Rustam Badasyan, for the work he did in his position and noted that during his tenure, significant changes took place in the State Revenue Committee, in its working style and work order, which is an important milestone in the overall reform agenda. “I want to draw everyone’s attention to this nuance. Especially recently, I have been emphasizing the concept of the state budget as the family budget of the Armenian citizens, and of course, the State Revenue Committee and the changes and reforms taking place in it play a very significant role in this process, because our perception of the logic of the family budget is as follows: The State Revenue Committee should gradually transform from a forceful punitive structure into a service-providing structure, which has significantly been realized during Mr. Badasyan's tenure. The transfer of the Investigation Department from the State Revenue Committee to the Investigative Committee has this logic, also in terms of making tax payment as a service more convenient for business entities, making economic activities more transparent," the Prime Minister said.

Nikol Pashinyan congratulated Eduard Hakobyan and wished him success in the position as Chairman of the State Revenue Committee. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the continuity of the processes will be ensured. The Prime Minister noted that Hakobyan has worked as Deputy Minister of Finance for the past two years and has been directly involved in the work with the State Revenue Committee and the development of policies. “The political task that I put before Mr. Hakobyan is the following: the positive content must be managed correctly, and on this positive path, we must bring the work of the State Revenue Committee to a new level, without deviating from the reform agenda for a single minute and not forgetting that the key goal of the reforms is to ensure state revenues, which is obviously the primary task of the State Revenue Committee and, in general, the Government,” the Prime Minister said.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, a change in the attitude towards money must take place in our country, including relations with money. The Prime Minister noted that money is nothing more than a tool of management and one should not form a negative attitude towards money nor, on the contrary, form a cult of it. “But on the other hand, one thing should be noted: How is a state considered developed or not? The most visible indicator is how much money is generated in the country. How does the Government differ from other groups of people? in just one thing: clearly due to legislation and other circumstances, it is the ability to manage the largest financial resources in the country. If, for example, there is a group in the country that has the ability to manage larger financial resources, the Government and the state as such will inevitably go into decline. These are, of course, conceptual formulations, but I think these nuances are very important for organizing our daily work,” the Prime Minister noted.

Rustam Badasyan thanked the Prime Minister for trusting him with the leadership of the State Revenue Committee over the past years and noted that the Committee has done a lot of work in recent years in terms of digitizing tax and customs services, making them more accessible to taxpayers, and reducing lengthy bureaucratic processes in the customs system, which has also had an impact on preventing corruption. “A system of good conduct has been introduced in the State Revenue Committee, one of the most important achievements that I would like to emphasize is that the State Revenue Committee, as befits tax and customs bodies, has begun to comply with international standards,” said Badasyan and wished Eduard Hakobyan success.

In turn, Eduard Hakobyan thanked the Prime Minister for the trust, as well as his colleagues from the State Revenue Committee for the achievements of recent years. “We must give a great pace to the process of reforms. I am ready to invest all my energy in leading them, strengthening the connection between the society and the State Revenue Committee, and to bring the culture of paying taxes closer to the important values of being state-oriented," noted the newly appointed Chairman of the State Revenue Committee.