We need to understand what the essence of the telethon organized by Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has been to this day. This is what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a question-and-answer session at the National Assembly today in response to deputy of the My Step Alliance Lilit Stepanyan’s question about the reason for fewer donations made during the recent telethon.

“The Fund has collected funds through administrative and imperative methods, asked, begged and threatened oligarchs to give money and collected money from the same people for 30 consecutive years, or they have told them to simply make pledges,’ Pashinyan said, adding that the Armenian government wants to change the system and have a truly all-Armenian fund.

Pashinyan said the Fund has collected $350,000,000 throughout its existence and considered this an embarrassment. “In the past, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund was a fund for a narrow circle of dedicated people who would constantly give money for years, but this can’t go on forever. Now we want to turn the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund into a truly all-Armenian fund. This is the first factor. The second factor is that a criminal case is instituted against the longstanding director of the Fund for misuse, rollback and other crimes. You will agree that it’s not pleasant for donators to know that their money was stolen or was used for gambling. We are going to start from scratch and create a truly all-Armenian fund, and we will,” the Prime Minister said.

According to the head of government, an attempt will be made to introduce a new formula. “Now the Fund needs millions of Armenians who will donate some money, not a couple of Armenians who will give millions of dollars. We have set the bar at $22 a month, and today, people can visit the website of the Fund and subscribe to donate $22 a month to the Fund. This will be year-long, not a telethon held once a year,” Nikol Pashinyan said.