Wednesday, October 23 2019 17:23

ArmInfo. Bonuses for officials in Armenia are carried out within the framework of the Law "On the State Budget" of 2019, which was adopted by the National  Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. RA Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan stated this from the rostrum on October 23, answering the  question about the increase in the salaries of Armenian ministers, an  information published by  "Hetq" ('' Trace ").

As the Prime Minister noted, in accordance with the law "On the State  Budget" of the current year, the creation of a 30% bonus fund has  been envisaged, from which bonuses are paid to Armenian officials. At  the same time, the amount of the premiums is increased for some  officials and reduced for others, and all proportions are respected.  As the head of government noted, the RA Law "On Remuneration of Civil  Servants" practically does not work, and the salary scale has long  been violated. Last year, as a result of the "premium scandal" in the  process of discussing the draft state budget, an agreement was  reached on the formation of a bonus fund for persons holding  government posts, including for MPs of the RA National Assembly.  Officials of the NSS and the Police, as the Prime Minister noted, for  example, do not receive bonuses, instead their wages are raised. With  the adoption of the decision, on the one hand, the imbalance has  changed, and on the other, the provision on payment of bonuses by  officials to themselves has been removed. The prime minister did not  agree with the statement about the secret nature of the decision. The  official, according to him, by the end of the year presents a  declaration of income and property, which indicates all sources of  income and property. This data is available on the Internet within 24  hours, and anyone can divide the income into 12 months and find out  how much the minister received. The prime minister added that from  January 1, 2020, wages for about 200 thousand citizens of the country  will increase.

To recall, the "Hetq" publication sent inquiries to three ministers,  the results of which revealed, in particular, that the Minister of  Emergency Situations, Felix Tsolakyan received a salary of 6 million  drams in May, June, July and August, the same amount was indicated in  the case of the Minister of Nature Protection Erik Grigoryan. If the  salary is divided on 4 months, it totals 1.5 million drams per month.   Meanwhile, the wages of public servants are determined by law.  According to the RA Law "On Remuneration of Civil Servants", the  minister's salary ratio is 12. To get the minister's salary, this  number must be multiplied by the base salary of 66,140 drams. The sum  is 793 thousand 680 drams, including taxes. Meanwhile, without making  any changes to the law, the salary of ministers was doubled and  amounted to 1.5 million drams. The same goes for the salaries of  deputy ministers and general secretaries.  According to the  coefficient established by the law, the salary of the deputy minister  was to be 562 thousand 160 drams, however, in fact, it turned out to  be equal to 1 million 60 thousand drams. The salary of the Secretary  General increased from 595 thousand 260 thousand drams to 870  thousand drams.