“ACNIS ReView from Yerevan” . It should not be surprising if, in Nikol-led Armenia, tendencies toward the legalization of certain crimes, including corruption, were to emerge. As strange as this may sound, the prerequisites for such a development already seem to be taking shape. At the end of last year, in a non-reported format, the Civil Contract (CC) government allocated 3.5 billion drams (about USD 9.2 million) in additional pay for roughly 40,000 people, including senior staff and other employees of 16 government agencies, ostensibly to incentivize the state system. Although the government refused to disclose how much each individual received, multiple media outlets reported a huge disparity in the bonuses. Naturally, the details were kept out of the public eye under a “top secret” classification. In particular, the amounts paid to high-ranking officials were not disclosed.
Nonetheless, Armenia is a small country—people know one another and are connected through work, kinship, godparenthood, neighborhood, and other ties. As a result, whatever is done under the label of “top secret” becomes “known to the world” within half an hour—especially when it involves billions of drams from the state budget and reeks of political corruption. The state treasury of the Republic of Armenia has never been subjected to such ruthless plundering; what happened can hardly be described as anything other than legalized looting. The public is in shock. There are so many people in dire need whose situation could have been improved, at least marginally—pensioners, forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians, and destitute citizens who lack money even for bread and clothing.
One or two weeks ago, when revelations emerged about members of the National Assembly receiving 3 million drams each in bonuses, some people expressed dissatisfaction with the authorities while others loudly protested the injustice. However, the wave of outrage gradually subsided, and the public appeared to adapt to the situation. Apparently, this was precisely what the authorities had calculated: to accustom society in small doses, so that enduring the next, stronger “blow” would not be as painful. Yet the figures published in the second stage of the bonus payments, affecting tens of thousands of state administration employees, were so shocking that they could not help but cause renewed pain and outrage.
Judge for yourself: in a country like Armenia, where one in every four residents lives in poverty, how moral are these astronomical “incentives” granted to officials? According to representatives of the incumbent government, such payments are justified by the need to retain professional staff within the state system. However, sources cited by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, azatutyun.am, reported that while ministers, their deputies, and department heads received sums comparable to their annual incomes, ordinary civil servants were rewarded with bonuses worth less than one month of their already modest salaries. Moreover, the lavish year-end payments to ministers and deputy ministers came on top of their regular monthly bonuses, which already match their salaries—1.5 million drams per month for ministers and 1 million drams for deputy ministers. For example, a minister’s bonus amounted to about 7 million drams (USD 18,400), a deputy minister’s to 4.5–5 million, and a department head’s to 2.5–3 million, with the amounts decreasing as rank declined.
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Thus, it turns out that it is not the individual who is rewarded, but the position. Yet even these beneficiaries are merely the “small fry.” Let us now turn to the real “sharks,” beginning with Nikol Pashinyan’s own “haul.” The investigative outlet Hetq has uncovered even deeper layers, further fueling public outrage. Pashinyan received approximately 11.952 million drams (about USD 31,425) in performance bonuses during the first half of 2025, along with an additional separate award of roughly 1.970 million drams. According to Hetq, between 2021 and 2025, staff members of the Prime Minister’s Office, including the prime minister himself, two deputy prime ministers, and an average of 491 employees per year, were collectively awarded bonuses totaling AMD 2 billion 835 million 550 thousand (about USD 7.457 million).
Hetq also established that 381.848 million drams of this sum were allocated as bonuses based on activity priorities and performance indicators for the first half of 2025. In effect, Nikol Pashinyan, his two deputies, and members of the government together received enough money to arm an entire battalion to the teeth. With such funds, it would have been possible to build a modern barracks or improve several combat positions. Nikol declares, “We were rewarded for the pensioner, because we work for the pensioner.” Yet pensions were not raised, while Nikol and his deputies quietly pocketed 51.6 million drams in bonuses. In reality, Pashinyan is distributing cash to his political allies to ensure their continued loyalty ahead of this June’s parliamentary elections.
