168: For which exceptional achievements are the officials distributing 35 million dollars?

In order not to stand out against the background of widespread poverty, last year the government invented a pilot program and secretly increased the salaries of government officials. The name was given as an incentive for the work done, and millions were distributed among themselves at the expense of the state budget. They distributed so many unnecessary bonuses that they devalued the term bonus, so they decided to replace it with “incentive”. But changing the name did not change the phenomenon.

This is a direct increase in salaries, first of all, the salaries of the upper echelons of the government, without an actual increase. Wages remained the same on paper, but incomes increased dramatically. High-ranking officials were given guarantees based on the results of the performance of the first half of last year, who received one-time sums of up to 8-10 million drams for one half-year. In return for what, no explanation was given to the public.

Despite widespread complaints among the citizens, the authorities did not give up on the innovation made for their benefit. On the contrary, their appetites became more and more open, later they increased the amount allocated.

For this purpose, the government has already written off more than 35 million dollars from the state budget. And this for only one and a half years of performance.

If the same logic is followed, about 30 million dollars can be deducted from the budget only with this new system. That much money, apart from salaries and permanent bonuses.

Last time, the money was given from the reserve fund, but the reserve fund is also a part of the budget and that fund is formed from the taxes paid by taxpayers.

Then they will say that they are not engaged in looting, it was the former ones who looted the country.

So, as once Nikol Pashinyan raised the salaries of high-ranking state officials secretly from the people with a secret decision, they are doing the same now. State funds were given the appearance of legal loot. In addition to the salaries and bonuses received, sometimes amounting to millions of drams, 35 million dollars were withdrawn from the budget in a few months. Those funds left the budget and went into the pockets of state officials.

The first decision on allocating money to encourage state officials was made at the end of last year. 3.5 billion drams were allocated in 2025. for the performance of the first semester. Allocations for the performance of the second half of last year, which were made in March of this year, were increased by 1.1 billion to 4.6 billion. Already for the first half of this year, the amount of embezzlement of state officials reached 5 billion.

In total, 13.1 billion drams were allocated from the state budget with these 3 decisions. Within the framework of the pilot program, these amounts are shared between government officials. Like the previous times, within the framework of another 5 billion allocated, high-ranking officials will receive one-time incentives of millions, if they have not already received them. And that’s only for the performance of the first half of this year. Performance allocations for the second half are likely to be higher.

After all this, it is not surprising that the incomes of the ministers only in terms of salaries, bonuses, bonuses and incentives have already reached astronomical figures. There are even officials who receive a salary of up to 100,000 dollars. For what good work, it is not known.

The government says that the money is given in exchange for the result of the work. But society has the right to know, especially which result? Which ministry has done such exceptional work, for which its head should receive several million drams at once? Which government program was completed ahead of schedule and with less money than planned? For which failed policy has any leader been disincentivized?

The answers to these questions are not presented to the public. There is no public document where the citizen can see the assessment of each high-ranking official, the amount received and the specific result recorded in return. On the contrary, many officials hide the money they receive. However, the published individual figures are sufficient to give an idea of ​​the true size of the incentives received by the officials. The Minister of Justice once confirmed that he received about 7 million drams. According to published information, Nikol Pashinyan will also be elected in 2025. received about 11 million 951 thousand drams for the performance of the first semester.

If they received that much for one semester, it is not difficult to calculate how much they will receive for the year.

And this in a country where every 4th or 5th citizen is poor. In a country where the pension does not reach 60,000 drams and the insurance amount of only one semester of a high-ranking government official reaches 10 years’ pension of a pensioner.

They increased their pension by 10,000 drams in order to justify the millions given to them.

They have buried the country under debts, they are distributing millions of incentives. Without that, they receive millions of salaries and bonuses. But they consider that it is not their “good”.

When they came to power, they did not have money for coffee in their pockets, now they are not satisfied with hundreds and thousands. They used to say that they are ready to serve the people for free, now they are serving the people for their welfare. They enjoy state funds, and the people drag their existence.

HAKOB KOCHARYAN

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