YEREVAN. – At the start of Thursday’s Cabinet session of the Government of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that he had received a letter informing that about 260 team leaders of laboratories who are leading 350 teams had not been paid salaries for three months already.

“I want to understand: Is such a thing possible that, in the 21st century, employees of the state system don’t get salary for three months?” Pashinyan asked.

Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan responded that in the previous years Armenia’s laboratories were funded by direct funding and grants, whereas this year the type of funding had changed to being competition-based.

“We have changed the type of funding so that it would be better,” Pashinyan replied. “So why is it worse?”

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, in turn, proposed to put this matter on today’s Cabinet meeting. The PM, however, disagreed, and called for a proper discussion of this matter.

“The habit of doing everything at the last minute should be abandoned,” he said. “Everything should be planned in advance.”