Regional Governors Have Worked Hard, They Have Been Rewarded: Aghajanyan Justifies Bonuses

The Head of the Prime Minister's Staff, Eduard Aghajanyan, addressed the topic of bonuses for regional governors on his Facebook page, stating:

“Following the most-discussed topics over the past two days, I want to make a few observations. Surprisingly, the most debated issue has been the so-called 'lavish' bonuses for regional governors. In this context, some have compared us to previous ones, suggesting that there is not much difference between them. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose certain details about previous practices at this moment as I am constrained by legal requirements. However, given that the moral aspect of this issue has often been politicized, I feel it necessary to address exactly that aspect.

I believe that in this discourse, the work done by officials outside of working hours has been completely ignored. Is the civil society or the journalistic community aware that almost all key officials of the Armenian government (including regional governors) work an average of 12-14 hours a day, not counting weekends? Should this also draw public attention, or should we expect them to work 18 hours a day and donate their salaries to charity organizations? This is another approach that can be discussed.

The next important note is the following: Although we have set a clear goal to make the public administration sector competitive with the private sector, at least in terms of salaries (we believe that there is no other way to attract the best professionals to the public administration system), it has nevertheless been explicitly decided that this should not be at the expense of additional budget allocations (essentially at the expense of any other budget-funded program), but rather solely based on savings generated through skilled and efficient management. And that is what we have implemented. Moreover, 80% of the sources of the bonuses discussed regarding the regional administrations did not only stem from direct savings, but specifically from savings in the wage fund.

Of course, it is commendable that the media closely scrutinizes our activities, but I believe there is a significant lack of objectivity in this story.

The second most discussed issue was the dismissal of Arthur Grigoryan, the former head of the Environmental and Mining Inspection Body. Considering that there seems to be an impression that this decision was a surprise for Mr. Grigoryan, I find it necessary to state that he was informed in advance about the Prime Minister's decision.

I should also add that the position of the head of the inspection body is an administrative position. It is an appointed position in public authority bodies, and the holder of that position ensures the effective implementation of the powers assigned to that body by the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia and is held accountable for the implementation of the objectives and tasks arising from their position. The head of the inspection body is dismissed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

In general, government personnel appointments and dismissals are aimed at involving higher-level specialists, organizing government work more effectively, and achieving the set objectives.”