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On February 8, the RA National Assembly began the work of the regular sittings. The deputies debated the item of including in the agenda the draft laws that were not endorsed in the Head committees. Aghvan Vardanyan presented the draft law on Amending the RA Law on Minimum Monthly Salary authored by the Armenia Faction, which proposed to increase the amount of the minimum monthly salary from 68.000 AMD to 100.000 AMD

The Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Labor and Social Affairs Heriknaz Tigranyan has clarified that the opposition colleagues’ initiative relates only to the monthly salary, and they don’t touch upon the hourly tariff rates of the employees working with salary or hourly wage, and the author has accepted it. Besides, the regulations being proposed by the draft law contradict the RA laws on Remuneration of the Persons Holding State Posts and State Service Posts and on the RA State Budget for 2022.

Giving a speech, the Deputy Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Babken Tunyan noted the shortcomings of the draft law. According to him, one of them is that if the draft law is passed, then the salary of the state officials and the deputies will increase more than the salary of the citizens receiving minimum salary. The deputy reminded his colleagues that in 2019 by the proposal of the NA My Step Faction and also the Government the amount of the minimum salary increased from 55.000 AMD reaching 68.000 AMD, in case if before that, five years ago it had not been changed, though by the Government programme for 2012-2017 it had been promised at least to make it double. “Your wish is very kind, but making the minimum salary from 68.000 to 100.000 AMD will take us to a very bad place,” he said, taking into consideration its risks. The deputy added that the authorities promised to increase the minimum salary, making it 85.000 AMD, and they would do it in parallel and consonance with economic possibilities.

As a result of voting, the draft law was not included in the session agenda.

The parliament approved the agendas of the session and the regular sittings, afterwards referred to the debate of the draft laws.