Finance Minister on performance-based bonuses for high-ranking  officials

ArmInfo.  Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan has addressed the recent controversy surrounding multi-million dram bonuses awarded to government  officials and lawmakers, describing the decision to move toward a  transparent, performance-based compensation system as a "bold step." 

Duringt a press conference on January 21, the Minister clarified that  salaries for high-ranking officials have remained stagnant for over  five years, creating significant challenges in attracting and  retaining top-tier professionals in the public sector.

"During these discussions, my position was that directly increasing  the salaries of ministers, deputy ministers, or department heads is  not the right approach. I believed it was necessary to implement a  system that would allow for setting specific goals and increasing  salaries based on their results, so that salaries would not grow  uniformly for everyone, but rather based on the effectiveness of  their work. The system was implemented in a pilot mode at the end of  2025 - goals were set for each department, and an evaluation process  was conducted. I wouldn't call this a bonus; it's essentially a  salary increase in a slightly different way," Vahe Hovhannisyan  clarified.

The Minister argued that for the state to function effectively,  high-ranking officials must be free from personal financial  distractions. "High-ranking officials engaged in intense and  stressful work should not have to worry about everyday social  problems, so they can remain focused on their duties," he stated.  He  further linked the quality of governance to recent fiscal successes,  noting that officials collected 300 billion drams more in taxes last  year compared to previous periods. He attributed this success to a  new culture where officials are not involved in private business or  "patronage" schemes.

Earlier, the Ishkhanutyun newspaper reported that the Armenian Prime  Minister had secretly allocated multi-million dollar bonuses to  ministers and other high-ranking officials. Thus, department heads  received around 1.5-2 million drams ($5.3 thousand), department heads  - 2.5-3 million drams ($7.8 thousand), deputy ministers - 3.5-4.5  million drams ($11.7 thousand), and ministers - up to 6-7 million  drams ($18.3 thousand).  Minister of Justice of Armenia Srbuhi Galyan  confirmed receiving a bonus of 6-7 million drams ($15.7 thousand)  after taxes when speaking to with reporters.