But before he did, he made a request and provided a few words of advice: "I'm not a journalist, but I know that every Armenian from birth has either a little bit of a journalist or a little bit of a politician [in them]. What I want to say, or rather, ask, is for people who work professionally in the media to be fair and report honestly."

He added that his office learns about a lot of issues from media reports: "Of course it's desirable that the information that you disseminate not be an exaggeration, but correspond to reality. Sitting here, we can't know what's happening elsewhere. Often a journalist goes and finds someone living in poor conditions, and we, upon finding out about it, are able to help."

Assessing his eight months of work in the country's northwestern province, the governor remarked that the province is one of the more complicated ones in the country. "Shirak residents like to be the first in everything: we are the first in the cultural sector; in sports, we're the first; in terms of poverty, we're the first — this last one I say regretfully. I think, the reason for many of our problems is that we can't break away from the past — we're constantly looking back. Talk to any Leninakan [present-day Gyumri] resident: he will undoubtedly remember the past; he wants the old Leninakan. But we have to remember that that's not possible. We must remember the old, but we must also look ahead."

Tsolakyan positively assessed 2013 as a year of achievements for Shirak province. Much work was done in terms of road construction; large investments were made to improve the state of the water supply system; and in the agricultural sector, the state provided much support to the farmers. However, the governor pointed to the as yet unresolved issue of Gyumri's homeless or temporarily housed families and the plans to reinforce poorly constructed buildings which are delayed every year. Tsolakyan also touched upon the lagging industrial sector and increased emigration. 

"Emigration is a subject on which I can give a two-hour lecture," he said. "We all feel badly about the emigration. Armenians emigrated also in the 10th century — in the 11th century too. In neighboring Georgia, if we are to make a comparison, the socioeconomic situation is not bright, but Georgians are emigrating not at all or [at least] less. Our people, once their situation is a bit uncomfortable, pack up their bags and go somewhere else. Not being able to accommodate even slightly already leads to emigration."

The provincial governor described how the head of one of the villages in China is an Armenian woman who was born in Martouni, married a Chinese man, and is now head of her husband's native village.

"We're an interesting people. I know that another nation would be afraid to go live somewhere else, but our people are not afraid: I don't know if that's courage or what; I find it hard to say. They find a relative or acquaintance somewhere and they go — of course the social [issues] on the other hand [contributes to the reason for leaving]," he added. 

The Shirak governor hoped that the funds the state allocates to the provinces this year will be mainly directed at implementing programs in village communities. In 2013, his office was forced to spend the lion's share of the money allocated to Gyumri as the cultural capital of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) on beautifying the city.