“YSU HAS NEVER HAD SUCH STABILITY AS IT HAS TODAY”: YSU RECTOR ANSWERS JOURNALISTS’ QUESTIONS

In response to the question if he went on thinking that some members of the Board of Trustees wanted his resignation under political pressure, he mentioned that such a wish first of all appeared at ES Minister Arayik Harutyunyan and his advisor Samvel Karabekyan.

“They are from the university community and at a time they probably were dissatisfied with my work style, though we had never had any conversation beyond courtesy. As regards the points of view and speeches of the members of the board of Trustees I won’t comment on them as it is beyond my powers. The Board of Trustees is the highest body of YSU governance and the supreme body to solve the problems of universities”, said Aram Simonyan.

Na mentioned that from the legal point of view the issue on the agenda is arbitrariness. “There are no serious grounds. I was elected for a certain term. The legitimacy cannot be doubted even if they say that the former Board of Trustees was dictatorial. I assure you that during the meetings of the Board many speeches were made and many issues were raised including criticizing ones both in relation to the university administration and the activity of the Board. Neither I nor the Board have ever put any pressure on anybody”.

Aram Simonyan told the journalists that the problem has political connotation. “I have never concealed my membership to the RPA, as I became its member in 1997. I did it because I had firm ideological attitudes. I am the supported of Nzhdeh’s national-conservative ideology. But I have never mixed my university activity with my being the party member. Nobody can blame me for it. I have always thought that YSU or any other educational establishment is not a place for party propaganda or activity. In the late 1990s I was even denounced for this attitudes”.

“This problem must be solved but it can’t be solved by force. I have been Rector for about 13 years. This position is actually very hard and full of challenges but at the same time it is a honorable one. I have done my best to be useful to the university. Some people said today that YSU is a swamp. The person who says so knows nothing about the university”,replied YSU Rector.

Mr. Simonyan assured that YSU had never been in such a stable financial situation as it is today. “At the end of the year we had a budget deficit and it made up more that AMD 750 million, today only AMD 80 million remained from it- is it the result of mismanagement? YSU has never had so many international partners as it has today-there are more than 200 of them”.

During his press conference Mr. Simonyan expressed confidence that none of the charged criminal charges will be proven. “On the basis of the results of the inspections which were not given to us in the form of acts, but only a reference, we drew up a 48-page answer. It was worked out by serious lawyers. Knowing that the results of the inspections were sent to Prosecutor’s office without notifying us as it is required by law, we also sent our answers directly there”.

YSU Rector also touched upon the information spread by the RA Police and gave explanations concerning the groundless charges.

All the questions and answers are available in the video material.