Armenian premier on reasons for premiums to government officials

ArmInfo.  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attributed the payment of large bonuses in public administration primarily to the introduction of a new  performance-based salary system. He announced this during a briefing  on January 15, answering journalists' questions.

The Prime Minister emphasized that this newly introduced system  pursues the sole goal of increasing the effectiveness of the  government and its programs and eliminating the risk of corruption  and the tolerance for it. In this regard, Pashinyan noted that  corruption risks in Armenia could increase significantly, given the  changing investment environment and the expected influx of  investment.

Furthermore, according to the Prime Minister, such bonuses could  long-term enhance the competitiveness of public sector employment,  given the outflow of high-quality personnel from the public sector to  the private sector. At the same time, the head of government noted  that such incentives will help civil servants protect their rights in  court amid the spread of disinformation.

Listing the following reasons, Pashinyan also noted that, according  to the adopted strategy, which assumes that education will become a  way of life, a significant portion of government officials' salaries  should be allocated to enhancing their professional competencies.  Prior to the implementation of the new system, the possibility of  allocating targeted funds from the state budget was considered. 

"The most important thing is that as a result of all this, the work  of the state system will become and continues to become more  efficient," the head of government noted, affirming that this was the  right decision.

Regarding himself, the prime minister stated that, in accordance with  the implemented system and the adopted decision, he received a salary  supplement of 1.5 million drams per month. In this vein, Pashinyan  noted that all income and expenses of civil servants are transparent  and public, as they are subject to declaration. It should be noted  that the day before, the research website Hetq reported that Armenian  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received approximately 11.9 million  drams in bonuses based on his performance assessment for the first  half of 2025. In addition, approximately 1.9 million drams were paid  to him as a separate line item as incentives. This information was  obtained based on a written request to the government regarding  bonuses received by the Prime Minister's Office, the Prime Minister  himself, and his deputy prime ministers from 2021 to 2025. According  to the source, the Prime Minister and two deputy prime ministers  received a total of 2.8 billion drams in incentives and bonuses from  2021 to 2025.