Armenian MPs get lavish year-end bonuses

Members of the Armenian National Assembly received hefty year-end bonuses in December, with individual payouts reported at up to 2.9 million drams (about $7,500), according to information obtained by Panorama.am.

The National Assembly’s administrative office declined to disclose the exact amounts, citing the country’s personal data protection law. However, two separate legal acts published on the parliament’s website authorize one-time bonuses for New Year and Christmas holidays, as well as additional one-time cash incentives for the same group of officials. The amounts are not specified in the documents.

Reports suggest that lawmakers received about 2.9 million drams each in December as bonuses. Armenia’s parliament has 101 members, putting the total cost of the bonuses at an estimated 292.9 million drams ($750,000), though the figure could vary if bonuses were calculated based on salary scales. Parliamentary faction leaders and secretaries may have received higher amounts.

Opposition lawmakers said the funds were directed toward charitable purposes. Hayk Mamijanyan, secretary of the Pativ Unem faction, told Panorama.am that the faction’s members donated their bonuses to social and charitable programs, though he did not disclose his personal payout.

Hayastan faction MP Agnesa Khamoyan said her bonus was approximately 2.3 million drams, adding that the faction also plans to allocate the funds to charity. Another member of the same faction, Kristine Vardanyan, told several media outlets that her combined salary and bonus totaled about 3 million drams.

No responses were obtained from members of the ruling Civil Contract party. Calls placed to several MPs went unanswered.

The bonuses have drawn criticism amid Armenia’s low pension levels. The country’s average monthly pension is about 50,000 drams (roughly $125), meaning a single lawmaker’s year-end bonus is equivalent to nearly four years of pension payments for one retiree.

The controversy comes weeks after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan questioned demands for higher pensions, asking rhetorically in parliament what retirees would do with an additional 11,000 drams per month, suggesting they might not manage the funds effectively.

While officials express confidence in lawmakers’ ability to handle large bonuses, similar trust is not extended to pensioners struggling with modest incomes.