The Armenian Prime Minister’s wife, Mrs. Anna Hakobyan, announced the launch of the “My Step” fund. Aravot.am asked Mrs. Hakobyan whether there are already benefactors who will finance the fund. Mrs. Hakobyan said: “Many people have talked about their willingness to support and make financial investments in the fund. At the moment I will abstain from giving names, these were preliminary, and I asked everyone to wait until the fund was officially launched”.
In response to the question whether the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund director, Ara Vardanyan’s case of embezzling the money will not affect the public’s trust in the funds, Mrs. Hakobyan said: “This case is not something new. The media, our media (Anna Hakobyan is the editor-in-chief of “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily) have repeatedly touched upon the situation in the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund. The Fund had many problems in recent years, and we knew that Diasporan benefactors were significantly reducing their contributions. That was the indication of the phenomena that recently were revealed. Hopefully, this will not affect”.
Mrs. Hakobyan talked about the “Aragil” Fund, which supports the couples suffering from infertility. Former First Lady Rita Sargsyan was supporting this program, and now the continuity of the program is questioned since there are suspicions of embezzlement. Mrs. Hakobyan said in this regard: “I do not know much about that program. The Ministry was in charge of the program. If the state cannot support the continuation of the program, we will try to do our best to help”.
In response to the question whether what the reason was that the Prime Minister’s wife did not leave for Brussels for an official visit with her husband, Mrs. Hakobyan said: “My participation in all visits is determined by the protocol. I suppose for some reason my visit was not necessary”. In response to our remark that the leaders of other countries were with their wives, Anna Hakobyan said: “I know, I have seen, but this question should not be addressed to me”.
Nelly BABAYAN
