ArmInfo. There is a misconception in the Armenian public about the upcoming salary increases for the country's top officials: not only the Prime Minister and members of the government, but also about 20,000 civil service employees will receive raises. This was stated by Taron Chakhoyan, a member of the National Assembly from the ruling Civil Contract faction, at a briefing in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on September 22, when answering a question about how the performance of civil servants will be assessed and whether they will be dismissed if their results are negative.
According to Taron Chakhoyan, given the expected salary increases for 20,000 civil servants, it would be unfair to only point to the bonuses for government members and NA members. For example, the salary of a first-class specialist will be increased, Senior specialists, department heads, deputy ministers, etc. It's clear that a deputy minister's salary cannot be higher than a minister's, which is what led to the latter's salary increase. If we're talking about the highest echelons of power, then in this case we're talking about 200 people, but salaries are being increased for 20,000 people. Chakhoyan noted that there are companies in the country where the director earns 20 million drams per month, and no amount of perks will entice him to work as a deputy minister with a salary of 1 million drams.
Continuing on this topic, Eduard Aghajanyan, a member of the National Assembly from the same faction, called for the issue to be considered in correlation with manifestations of corruption. In countries where salaries are low, manifestations of corruption are higher. For example, in Singapore, officials have very high salaries, and, as a result, the level of corruption there is very low. Aghajanyan emphasized that there is a fairly high level of outflow of qualified personnel in the state system, and the reason for this is the insufficient level of salaries. It should be noted that, according to the amendments to the law "On the remuneration of persons holding government positions," the salary of the Prime Minister of Armenia will increase by almost 80%. Currently, the salary of the Prime Minister of Armenia is 1 million 498 thousand drams (the basic salary rate of civil servants, multiplied by a coefficient of 18). According to the bill, the coefficient will increase from 18 to 32, and the salary - to 2 million 662 thousand drams. The Prime Minister's salary will be equal to that of the President (his coefficient will increase from 20 to the same 32).
Ministers' salaries will double, reaching 1,997,000 drams. Significant increases are also envisaged for other levels of the civil service hierarchy. Earlier, while presenting the bill, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan noted that the bill would continue the civil service pay reform launched last year.
Mayors' and municipal heads' salaries, which currently average 350,000 drams, will double, and in some cases triple, announced Minister of Territorial Administration David Khudatyan. Salary increases for municipal employees will come from the national budget, not municipal funds. 25 billion drams will be allocated annually from the country's budget for the implementation of this project.
