A new social contract has effectively taken shape in Armenia: the authorities receive money, while the people are told why they are not entitled to it. As citizens are informed that \u201cthere is no money, but you should hold on,\u201d millions in budgetary funds are quietly and without public scrutiny distributed within the corridors of power.<\/p>\n
While the government speaks of \u201cinsufficient resources\u201d and the need for \u201coptimal solutions,\u201d state funds are allocated according to a strict and cynical logic: millions go upward, while promises go downward. According to \u201cZhoghovurd\u201d newspaper<\/a>, in December ministers and their deputies received multi-million-dram bonuses from the state budget - information that the authorities have not disclosed to the public.<\/p>\n Sources cited by the newspaper claim that ministers received between 7 and 8 million drams each, with some receiving up to 9 million, while deputy ministers received 4\u20135 million drams each. In response to an official inquiry from \u201cZhoghovurd\u201d, the government avoided providing a direct answer, issuing formal replies and shifting responsibility between departments, effectively classifying information about budgetary payments.<\/p>\n During the same period, the very same government was explaining to pensioners why pensions could not be increased.<\/p>\n