Ministry of Health Employed Drivers with a Salary of 210,000 AMD, While the Official Rate Was 99,000 AMD: 'Factinfo'

The Republic of Armenia's Audit Chamber has recorded numerous violations in the healthcare sector during Arsen Torosyan's tenure as Minister of Health in 2020. Furthermore, it appears that even a driver who worked for just two months was hastily granted hundreds of thousands of AMD in bonuses.

According to 'Factinfo', the audit revealed multiple breaches regarding employee registrations and the issuance of sick leaves within the ministry. For instance, employees N.P. from the Children's Health Department of the Ministry of Health and N.A., the lead specialist in charge of foreign investment, were dismissed in 2019 based on their applications, and on the same day, new employment contracts were signed with them.

Due to discrepancies in the official rate, a distortion of 2,355.7 thousand AMD was recorded. The financial and economic department, failing to adhere to the requirements of the law on 'Compensation for State Officials and Public Servants', continued to pay former employees, resulting in overpayments of 2,110.9 thousand AMD to three employees in 2020.

There were also inconsistencies found related to employment contracts and agreements with experts and civil workers. In another instance, due to non-compliance with legal requirements, excess payments of 28,348.5 thousand AMD were made.

According to a government decree, individuals engaged in civil work and technical maintenance can be rewarded for diligent work using the funds saved from the salary budget. However, the ministry ignored this decree and awarded contract employees a total of 17,515.9 thousand AMD in bonuses.

The ministry also provided an employee with an additional leave of four working days, leading to an excess payment of 47.7 thousand AMD for vacation funds. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry signed fixed-term contracts with 22 drivers, setting a monthly official rate of 210,000 AMD instead of 99,200 AMD. This process also did not comply with the government's decree number 737-N.

The official rate allocated for the drivers was exaggerated by 110.8 thousand AMD. A total of 22 drivers were paid 9,895.1 thousand AMD in salaries instead of 6,086.8 thousand AMD, resulting in an excess payment of 3,808.3 thousand AMD due to the inflated rate. One driver was rewarded with 210,000 AMD just two months after being hired.

The audit also found that proper accounting for employment contracts and agreements was not carried out, contracts and agreements were not numbered, and records related to contracts, as well as agreements, were not entered into the electronic document circulation system, Mulberry. Consequently, ensuring the validity of the agreement signing periods was impossible.

The Ministry of Health has expressed its position, stating that its contract employees are civil workers. However, the auditor responded that this position was not accepted, as workers under fixed-term contracts do not qualify as civil workers. Relations related to the engagement of experts by the ministry were also executed without adhering to the relevant government decree.