4.4 Million Dollars in Bonuses in 14 Months: Yerevan Municipality

Yerkir.am submitted a written inquiry to Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan requesting information regarding the total amount of bonuses disbursed to employees of his administration from October 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019.

The written response received (attached) indicates that during the specified 14 months, the total amount of bonuses paid to the employees of the Yerevan Municipality and the administrative departments of Yerevan amounted to approximately 2,102,213,050 AMD (around $4,400,000) for about 1,782 employees.

On average, more than 150,000,000 AMD or approximately $315,000 in bonuses was paid to the municipal staff and employees of Yerevan's administrative departments each month.

What achievements warranted the payment of this $4.4 million as bonuses in just one year (14 months) remains unclear. It is excessive to remind citizens of the disgraceful condition of summer waste collection, the dried-up parks, the courtyards that go uncleaned for days, the dangerous elevators, and the abysmal state of public transport that affects the mental state of the populace — in short, everything citizens see and feel every day.

It is intriguing to consider what programs have been cut to allocate more than $4 million for these bonuses. How many elevators could have been purchased with this amount? How many buses to prevent daily humiliation of citizens? How many parks could be revitalized? How many families could have benefited from improved housing?

Finally, where is the mayor during these trying times? In this extraordinary situation, where urgent measures and operational management are required every second, various reports indicate that he has self-isolated from everyone. However, we are confident that upon his return, he will once again sign orders for new lavish bonuses.