Your trusted source

A lavish inauguration ceremony organized by Yerevan’s new Mayor Tigran Avinyan cost taxpayers over 87 million drams ($220,000).

Avinyan, who represents Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's Civil Contact party, was sworn in on October 13.

The municipal administration revealed the cost of the ceremony in a written statement to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. It said half of the money was spent on decorations evoking the ancient kingdom of Urartu whose 8th century BC ruler Argishti I is considered the founder of Yerevan.

Avinian was greeted by men dressed as Urartian warriors as he made his way into the inauguration hall. The 34-year-old put his hand on a replica of a cuneiform inscription left by Argishti as he took the oath of office.

Avinyan defended the unusual event staging when he spoke to reporters afterwards. He said it was meant to remind Armenians of “the origins of Yerevan.”

But his political opponents saw extravagance, waste of public money and poor taste. Izabella Abgaryan, a newly reelected city council member representing former Mayor Hayk Marutyan’s party, the election runner-up, said Avinyan exposed his “sick vanity.”