No Additional Funds Allocated to the Presidential Administration from the State Budget

In response to reports from several media outlets stating that a decision was made at today’s government meeting to increase the expenses allocated for the needs of the RA President's Office, the presidential administration informs that the comments circulating regarding this decision are a result of misunderstanding or a deliberate distortion of reality.

No additional funds have been allocated to the presidential administration from the state budget.

At the RA government meeting on June 25 of this year, there was no question submitted regarding increasing the expenses of the presidential administration for the year 2020 as approved by the state budget, nor regarding the allocation of any additional resources. The decision made only involved a change in the procedure for executing expenses already planned and allocated for the presidential administration in the 2020 state budget by altering the specified amounts. The total amount of funds allocated for the presidential administration from the state budget has remained the same; it has not increased.

It is noteworthy that, due to the situation created by the coronavirus pandemic, the presidential administration has already returned approximately 152 million drams from the budget for the second half of 2020 that was planned for bonuses for the administration and for the President's overseas travel.

The aforementioned decision adopted by the government today will help make the activities directed towards mitigating the social repercussions of the pandemic in Armenia more effective and timely, as carried out by the presidential administration. These exclusively charitable, cultural, and social initiatives will become more purposeful and will be implemented in shorter timeframes.

We urge media outlets to be more careful and objective when publishing information related to the presidential administration in order to avoid misunderstandings.

At the same time, we inform you that since being elected as President, Armen Sarkissian has been living in his private residence, rather than in the government residence provided by the state. The President also does not receive a salary, neither in cash nor in non-cash form. The President donates his salary either to the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund or directs it towards charitable purposes, including support for socially vulnerable groups or children from border communities. The presidential administration has already implemented several similar initiatives.