Armenia's Interior Ministry head Arfin Sarkisian explained why new biometric passports would cost 28,650 drams (almost $80), while citizens paid 1,000 drams (less than $2.8) for existing regular passports. According to the minister, it is not correct to compare these documents due to significant differences in technical characteristics and functionality. In the past, additional parameters were known: cost, time of issuance and the procedure for exchanging new biometric passports.