New Year Approaches, Yet Contracted Soldiers Have Not Received Full Salaries - Lawmaker Addresses Chief of General Staff

Armenian National Assembly member Taguhi Tovmasyan has raised concerns regarding the salary payments of contracted soldiers, as reported by Auroranews.

The lawmaker stated, “With only a few days left until the New Year, contracted soldiers have yet to receive their full salaries. I have received alerts from contracted soldiers at the Zod military unit in Ararat province regarding the urgent issue of their salary payments. The soldiers specifically mention that they have only received approximately 100,000 AMD out of their December salary (which is around 190,000 AMD), and they have been informed that the remaining part of the salary will be transferred on January 10, 2022. In previous years, as the soldiers informed me, they received their full salary by December 20, including part of what is commonly referred to as the ‘13th salary’.

The contracted soldiers add that with the amount they have received, they may barely be able to cover their credit obligations and some current expenses. However, they face numerous issues, such as necessary expenses for their relatives’ health problems and utility payments, for which the transferred amount is quite insufficient. In this difficult situation, there is no money left for even minor purchases for the New Year.

This treatment of servicemen is unacceptable. They ensure our security, yet the state fails to pay them their due salaries in full.

I would like to inform that I have sent an urgent letter to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Artak Davtyan, requesting him to urgently instruct an appropriate investigation and ensure that the necessary payments are made by the end of December. I will pursue the resolution of this issue.