Finance Minister and Culture Deputy Minister Vote Against Decision to Allocate Bonuses to the State Revenue Committee

In a government meeting held today, Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan and Culture Deputy Minister Tigran Ghazaryan voted against a decision to allocate 2 billion 330 million drams to the State Revenue Committee (SRC).

According to the Prime Minister, this issue is not just about the welfare of individual officials but about providing quality services to the public.

He provided an example, saying, "A customs officer who deals with products worth millions of drams a day earns 160,000 drams. If we leave the situation as it is, the real message is that they should go fend for themselves," said the Prime Minister. In response, Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan argued that no amount of money can resolve this issue.

“All state bodies perform important work. The SRC had twice the capability in 2018 compared to what is currently budgeted. We do not believe that this additional payment will yield the expected results in the fight against corruption,” noted Atom Janjughazyan.

In response, the Prime Minister stated, “Mr. Janjughazyan is one hundred percent correct, but there is a truth that in order to stop a herd of horses, you inevitably need to run alongside them in some space; otherwise, you won’t stop them.”

SRC Chairman David Ananyan reported that the decision’s adoption is due to the fact that the SRC’s bonus fund for 2019 was planned to be 1 billion 836 million drams, which is insufficient.