Disinformation is Sometimes More Damaging than Dangerous Infections: Karapetyan on Bonuses

The press secretary of Yerevan mayor Hakob Karapetyan wrote on his Facebook page: "Is it a struggle with dilettantism or mere gossip? While discussing the topic of quarterly bonuses once again, the head of the Yerevan Council's 'Bright' faction has separately addressed the bonuses of the mayor's press secretary—myself—and the legal advisor.

I am compelled to provide some clarifications on this issue. Khajakyan, in particular, wrote: 'The mayor's legal advisor has also been incentivized, whose professional dilettantism has led the city hall to face adverse judicial decisions, which will soon manifest as large-scale damages.' The reality is that as of April 2020, over 1,500 court cases involving the municipality have been managed by the mayor's advisor Karen Hambardzumyan since he took up his position in May 2019, focusing, ATTENTION, on only 2 (two) interconnected cases that are essentially one case (related to 'Sanitek'). In one of those cases, on 11.03.2020, the Yerevan municipality's claim was confirmed in the bankruptcy court under case number SND/1719/04/19 for more than 2.9 billion drams, while in the other case EД/19172/02/19, a counterclaim was presented for more than 2.5 billion drams, and that case is currently ongoing. Hence, we must note that Khajakyan's mention of 'adverse decisions' is clear disinformation.

Next, while writing about the bonuses of the mayor's advisor and press secretary, Khajakyan states that 'selective' and 'unfair' bonuses have occurred. That is, allegedly, some are incentivized while others are not. It is hard to imagine that Mr. Khajakyan, as a deeply knowledgeable and inquisitive politician, is unaware that some staff members receive quarterly bonuses every month, while others, including the mayor's advisor and press secretary, receive them once per quarter. That is, a significant portion of employees receive their entitled bonuses (actually fixed supplements) at the end of each month, while some, including the mayor's advisor and press secretary, do so every three months. Moreover, the total bonus fund for March, 130 million drams, along with the mayor's full salary, has been entirely allocated to healthcare workers. I emphasize that no official, especially a department head, receives bonuses more or less frequently. So why is Khajakyan trying to present this differently? Is it due to professional dilettantism or a deliberate intent to mislead the public?

How plausible is it that the head of a three-member faction within a city council of one million inhabitants cannot analyze available information in the public domain and draw conclusions from it? Personally, I want to believe that David Khajakyan's post is a result of ignorance; otherwise, it would seem that he is distorting the facts quite unpleasantly, especially by exploiting the current sensitive sentiments towards the healthcare sector. This would appear to be an even cheaper trick, particularly against the backdrop of the city authorities' treatment of healthcare workers in recent days.

P.S. Now, allow me to provide public accountability regarding my remuneration from the city hall. Thus, the 560,000 drams mentioned by Mr. Khajakyan (which constitutes two months’ bonuses), after tax deductions, becomes approximately 200,000 drams a month. If we add that to my monthly salary of 213,000 drams, it results in a total monthly income of around 410,000 drams. Any citizen of the Republic of Armenia has the right to contest how deserving any public servant, including your humble servant, is of their remuneration, but above all, every citizen has the right to receive proper information—without distortions and manipulations. Be informed and verify the authenticity of the information. Disinformation can sometimes be more harmful than dangerous infections."