Arsen Torosyan Received 14,834,904 Drams in Bonuses During the First 10 Months of 2019: AntiFake.am

According to AntiFake.am, in response to an inquiry directed to the Ministry of Health, individuals who submitted declarations from March to December 2019, including Minister Arsen Torosyan, the deputy ministers, the deputy secretary general, and the heads of the licensing agency and the state health agency, received bonuses.

Notably, the official who received the largest amount in bonuses from the Ministry of Health is Minister Arsen Torosyan, who received 14,834,904 drams during the first 10 months of 2019. This amount was allocated according to articles 4111 and 4112 of the 2019 budget.

The minister's deputy, Lena Nanushyan, received 9,371,014 drams during the same period. Another deputy minister, Anahit Avanesyan, received 9,672,612 drams. Recently appointed Deputy Minister Artyom Smbatyan, who previously held the position of head of staff and chief secretary, received 7,300,757 drams as a bonus from March to December 2019, while Deputy Minister Levon Hakobyan received 7,132,109 drams.

It is worth mentioning that on March 30, Deputy Minister of Health Arsen Davtyan was arrested. He was charged under part 4 point 2 of Article 311 and part 1 of Article 312 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia for receiving especially large bribes. Before this, the former deputy minister had already received his monthly bonus of 1,124,430 drams.

Another former deputy minister, Hovhannes Harutyunyan, served until October 10, 2019, during which he received 5,035,635 drams. Newly appointed Deputy Minister Shavarsh Grigoryan, who began his duties on November 15 of this year, received 1,661,447 drams.

The deputy secretary general of the ministry, Vahe Hakobyan, received a bonus of 2,563,454 drams. The head of the State Health Agency of the Ministry, Tsagik Vardanyan, received 2,900,107 drams in bonuses, while the head of the Licensing Agency, Vahe Aleksanyan, received 3,696,628 drams.

In total, the bonuses allocated to the aforementioned high-ranking officials of the ministry amounted to approximately 65 million drams.