Nearly 11 million drams for the Manama business trip: Who pays more for whose accommodation?

Hayastan.news reports: "Alen Simonyan and his delegation traveled to Manama (Kingdom of Bahrain) from March 11 to 15 of this year to participate in the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly. The delegation included National Assembly President Alen Simonyan, MPs Hasmik Hakobyan and Tsovinar Vardanyan of the Civil Contract party, who are among the most frequent travelers from the National Assembly, with reports indicating they have visited four countries in the past month and a half, two of which were the USA. Others in the delegation included the Chief of Staff of the National Assembly David Arakelyan, Head of the External Relations Department Tigran Seyranian, Head of the Protocol Department Alexander Mikitaryan, Press Secretary of the National Assembly Tsovinar Khachatryan, Assistant Consultant to the National Assembly President Hamlet Gevorgyan, and the Chief Specialist of the International Organizations Division of the External Relations Department Zabela Ghazaryan, along with the Assembly’s photographer-operator David Hakobyan.

The state budget covered approximately four million drams (3,917,970 drams) for the hotel accommodation, while the airfare amounted to 5 million 291 thousand drams. But that is not all. The government also paid daily allowances for those on the trip, of which the National Assembly's staff did not provide details, indicating that information regarding the travel expenses for employees sent to foreign countries, including the allowance, can be found in the list included in the relevant governmental decision.

According to that list, the daily allowance for employees traveling to Manama is set at 96 dollars per day. Therefore, for an 11-member delegation traveling to Manama for four days, according to the figures provided by the National Assembly, approximately 9.5 million drams (9,208,970 drams) was spent from the state budget for airfare and accommodation, plus the daily allowance of 96 dollars for each of the 11 individuals.

It is worth noting that several of them had departed for Manama earlier; for example, Zabela Ghazaryan and Hasmik Hakobyan were there from March 10 to 16 (6 days), Tsovinar Vardanyan from March 10 to 15 (5 days), and Mamikon Margaryan for 8 days (from March 8 to 16), which means their allocated daily allowances are higher.

The total daily allowance for the attendees in Manama amounts to 5,088 dollars, equating to roughly 2 million drams. Thus, the overall expenditure from the state budget for the Manama business trip was about 11 million drams.

In fact, the daily accommodation expense stipulated by the government for one night in Manama is supposed to be allocated at 143 dollars. In the inquiry sent by the National Assembly, as noted, the accommodation cost is stated as 3,917,970 drams. If we calculate according to the legally stipulated daily rate of 143 dollars, we arrive at 7,579 dollars or approximately 3 million drams. This suggests that nearly one million drams more has been allocated for accommodation costs. It is possible that higher-class hotels were booked for some members of the delegation, such as National Assembly President Alen Simonyan, either in a higher-class hotel or within the same hotel, resulting in a higher amount allocated than legally foreseen for this trip.

It has come to our attention that in terms of allowances, there is little room for change; however, concerning hotels, especially for the top leadership of the National Assembly, larger amounts classified by law are provided to ensure that traveling lawmakers can stay in higher-class accommodations."