Prime Minister Pashinyan is Thrice Right, Arpine Hovhannisyan

“The funds recovered through the fight against corruption are insufficient for bonuses. If you ask an ordinary citizen of the Republic of Armenia what aspect of this government’s activities they appreciate, undoubtedly the vast majority will mention the relentless and unwavering fight against corruption. There is no speech or public comment (including yesterday's diverse live stream) where the Prime Minister of the country does not refer to this topic, often using offensive expressions. There is not a single member of the National Assembly who, in order to avoid uncomfortable questions or in response to an unknown topic, will not start talking about their victories against corruption.

And the more ‘qualified’ the ‘nation-selected’ (or ‘Nikol-selected’) is, the more vulgar, superficial, and crude their comments on the fight against corruption become. Moreover, it is also important to note that the fight against corruption is considered one of the central means of improving the people’s welfare. They say, “what was stolen” is being brought back and redistributed to the people. Let’s take a look: I propose to familiarize yourselves with the OFFICIAL and DIGITAL version of the fight against corruption.

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia has submitted its annual report on the investigation of crimes for the years 2018 and 2019, along with information on crimes of a corrupt nature. The Prosecutor General’s Office publishes two reports each year—one dedicated to the results of the investigation of all types of crimes, and the other solely to corrupt crimes, meaning that, according to the Prime Minister’s favorite terminology, information about thieves and corrupt figures is always published separately.

From the combination of these reports, we obtain the following picture: In 2019, the total damage caused to the state by crimes of a CORRUPT nature was 1,003,689,227 AMD, meaning about 1 billion AMD was recovered. This means that exactly the same amount was paid out only to HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS as bonuses according to the Prime Minister’s statements during yesterday's live and his propagandists. In other words, for an entire year, the NSS, the Special Investigative Service, the State Revenue Committee, and other bodies combating corruption recovered 1 billion AMD from corrupt crimes, and it turns out this amount constitutes the total pool for bonuses granted ONLY to high-ranking officials.

In the same year of 2019, the total damage caused by all types of crimes to the state or communities amounted to 12.4 billion AMD. The total amount of ALL BONUSES in 2019, according to official sources, is 21.5 billion (TWENTY-ONE) AMD. So where will the funds be enough for pensions, salaries, and other expenses?

Incidentally, during 2018, the total damage caused to the state by crimes of a CORRUPT nature amounted to about 3,938,873,757 AMD, or around 4 billion AMD, while the overall damage was 28 billion AMD. According to the publications of the Prosecutor's Office, the amount recovered from CORRUPT crimes in 2018 and 2019 (that is, the total amount recovered under conditions of legal chaos) is about 5 (FIVE) billion AMD. These figures serve as evidence that Prime Minister Pashinyan is thrice right. Where else can you find such a ‘qualified’ parliament, whose offspring can generate such a pearl of thought that ‘fighting against corruption is something that has no alternative to bonuses’?

PS: It is interesting to see how our esteemed government will distribute bonuses in cases where they take property, not just money, from people. PS: These figures do not reflect the amounts given as a result of agreements and ‘gifts’ obtained in various cabinets. They do not appear in either the non-revenue or expenditure section of the budget.”