Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, together with the President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan, attended the awarding ceremony of the 10 best athletes of 2023.
Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Karen Giloyan, other officials, many representatives of the Armenian sports sector also attended the event.
At the beginning of the event, Prime Minister Pashinyan made a speech in which he stated:
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“Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,
Dear representatives of executive and legislative powers,
Dear representatives of the sports world,
First of all, I want to congratulate all of us on the occasion of the sports indicators we recorded last year. These indicators give confidence that the political decisions we make are at least in the right direction.
You might remember when we made a decision that we should accompany the athletes who are making their first achievements or showing the first signs of success on their way to success. In this regard, I would like to record with pleasure that as of today, two athletes receive monthly support of one million AMD and more from the state budget of Armenia, 24 athletes receive support of 500 thousand AMD and more, 64 athletes receive monthly support from 100 to 500 thousand AMD.
This is very important, because we have to do our best so that our talented athletes have the opportunity to focus on their sports work. In this regard, in order for the youth to reach this point, it is very important to have sports infrastructure. I am pleased to note that during 2023, we commissioned 52 school gymnasiums, which our athletes also use for training and physical education classes, and 24 of those 52 gymnasiums were either built or repaired separately as gymnasiums, and the other 28 were built as part of the general renovation, or construction, or reconstruction of the school.
In general, it is very important to record the dynamics that we have in the field of financing the sports sector. In 2018, the funding of the sports sector in Armenia was at 2 billion 144 million AMD from the annual budget. In 2023, the financing of the sports sector amounted to 10 billion 288 million AMD. In other words, 8 billion 144 million AMD or 479 percent more than in 2018. I am also happy to note that this year we completed 7 sports facilities, which were put into operation by the government, or Yerevan Municipality, or partner federations. In particular, the football school of Khoren Hovhannisyan, the private school of Dilijan, the opening of which took place recently with the cooperation of the community and the private sector, the badminton school of Yerevan, the famous gymnasium of Cilicia.
In the next 10-15 days, the sports school named after Simon Martirosyan will be commissioned in Jrarat. This year, Yerevan Municipality commissioned 3 sports schools: Arabkir martial arts school, Shengavit complex training school, Shengavit kokh national wrestling training school.
We also have plans for 2024, and they will be in various stages of construction, in particular, the cycling sports schools, artistic gymnastics in Yerevan, the sports complex named after Arthur Aleksanyan in Shirak, the reconstruction of the Olympic Shift College will take place in Yerevan, we will start the design works of the boxing and judo gym of the Olympic Shift College in Yerevan, the design works of the sports school named after Roman and Malkhas Amoyans in Alagyaz community, the sports school named after Arthur Abraham, the sports school of game sports in Yerevan and the construction of sports centers in Vayots Dzor, Yeghegnadzor and Berd, which will be both a fitness center and a sports school for both children and adults.
Together with the Football Federation of Armenia, we plan to establish 4 football schools or academies in Artashat, Davtashen administrative district of Yerevan, Ijevan, Martuni. The Football Federation of Armenia will also build 40 stadiums in Yerevan, Kotayk, Armavir and Syunik. We will also continue our work within the framework of the school construction project. Also, the works of the renovation and reconstruction of Shengavit martial arts school of higher mastery, Ajapnyak complex sports school, Nor Nork’s Tork Angegh sports and cultural complex are planned. You also know that the construction of a new sports school center named after Azaryan is planned.
In short, we implement big sports projects with the following understanding: today, there are other infrastructures that are not originally designed for use in the sports field, but in many cases, when we visit these facilities, we see that it is also possible to organize certain sports and group training there. My instruction is that we go in that direction and also lease those areas to the private sector. I am glad that there is some interest.
Dear Mr. President,
Dear Colleagues,
We have a lot to say in the field of sports and that’s good. Of course, I consider that we should treat sport as a strategic branch and that strategy should develop in two directions. One of the directions is the popularization of sports, which is directly related to one of our strategic goals – the promotion of a healthy lifestyle in the Republic of Armenia. And, of course, we should be able to develop the sector in such a way that we perceive sports as a branch of the economy, because by and large, sports is a branch of the economy and we should all be encouraged in that direction.
This many sports facilities need competent management, competent management of sports facilities is already an economic task. In all cases, the Government makes capital investments so that these sports facilities, as economists like to say, create added value. Because hotel complexes, entertainment centers, etc. are being created at the same time. And our perception should not be that the process of subsidization should continue, these sports facilities should be put on the right economic basis and formulas so that they can be effectively managed, ensuring that the investments made will not wear out with time, but the existing investment will attract new resources and ensure the normal development of physical culture and sports.
And of course, we do all of this inspired by the success of our beloved athletes and we also hope that such approaches of the Government will give them a little extra strength, so that they feel better on the competition platforms, feel more confident, being confident that what they are doing is essential and strategic not only for their team, not only for themselves, for the sports environment, not only for their district and city, but for the strategic development of the Republic of Armenia. Because big sport is also a state institution in a way, because of course, in case of success, athletes are glorified and that is normal, but if we are honest, the country, the state with its state attributes is the one that is glorified more. This is also the reason why we want sports to continuously feel the support of the government of the Republic of Armenia and to encourage young people to adopt a healthy lifestyle by the person of sports.
It’s also important that we modify the decisions we make. For example, when we established the Prime Minister’s Cup of cross-country cycling, we held it for two years and we are not dissatisfied with that tournament, then we thought it would be good to make the culture of cycling among schoolchildren more widespread. We decided to buy four bicycles for each different age groups of all the schools of the republic and make the Prime Minister’s Cup cycling tournament a team event.
Dear athletes,
Dear coaches,
I want to thank you for your efforts in 2023, we are thankful and what we do, we don’t think we do enough. You certainly deserve more, but I think what is being done is not bad and I hope you feel appreciated inside. These programs, these approaches also give you confidence in how important you and your work are for the Republic of Armenia.”
Summarizing the sporting year, the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Karen Giloyan noted that athletes of all age groups of the Republic of Armenia won a record 445 medals in the World and European Championships, Cups, Francophonie and CIS Games in 2023, including 125 gold medals, 127 silver, 193 bronze medals. This figure is 44.9 percent higher than in 2022. Last year, the number of medals was 307.
Then Prime Minister Pashinyan presented awards to European Greco-Roman style wrestling champion , World Championship silver medalist Artur Aleksanyan, European Greco-Roman style wrestling champion , World Championship bronze medalist Malkhas Amoyan, bronze medalist of the World Freestyle Wrestling Championship Arman Andreasyan, gold and bronze medalist of the European Gymnastics Championship Artur Davtyan, silver medalist of the European and World Weightlifting Championships Varazdat Lalayan, European champion of freestyle wrestling, bronze medalist of the World Championship Arsen Harutyunyan, bronze medalist of the World Boxing Championship Narek Manasyan, the champion of the adult European weightlifting championship, the bronze medalist of the world championship Gor Sahakyan.
For good reason, European champion of freestyle wrestling, bronze medalist of the World Championship Vazgen Tevanyan and the bronze medalist of the World Boxing Championship Hovhannes Bachkov did not attend the event. They will receive the prizes later.