Papikyan Allocates Bonuses to Himself, Deputy Ministers, and the Chief of the Armed Forces

According to the decree of the Minister of Defense of Armenia, the entire personnel of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense has received bonuses, although the ministry considers the amount of the bonuses to be a state and service secret.

On December 28, Factinfo submitted a written inquiry to the Ministry of Defense asking whether the staff had received bonuses in December. They requested information on when the payments were made and how much was distributed. Additionally, they inquired whether the staff had received their full salaries for December.

It turned out that, unlike contract soldiers, the salaries of the Ministry of Defense staff for December were fully transferred as early as December 20, even before the month ended. Furthermore, the Ministry mentioned that Suren Papikyan had signed orders to allocate bonuses.

Included among those receiving bonuses is Papikyan himself, who has been serving as Minister of Defense for only 1.5 months, yet this has not hindered him from awarding himself for a year of “good” work.

However, the Ministry has deemed the amount of allocated bonuses a secret. When asked how much the bonuses totaled, including those for the minister, deputy ministers, and the Chief of the Armed Forces, the Ministry refused to answer, stating that it is classified information.

In their response, the Ministry cited relevant laws and noted, “The Minister of Defense, the deputy ministers, and the Chief of the Armed Forces are considered declarants under the RA Law on Public Service and are required to submit an annual declaration of their property and income.”

It is worth reminding that the bonuses for contract soldiers were not transferred in December, with the Ministry stating that the funds would be transferred at the beginning of the next month, as per the law. However, this did not prevent the minister from distributing bonuses and fully paying salaries to himself and other officials before the New Year.