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The continuously changing security environment in the region and the world, the external threats and challenges surrounding the Republic of Armenia require the RA Foreign Ministry to exert greater strength and make incomparably more vigorous efforts on almost all bilateral and multilateral platforms. The volume of work of diplomats has multiplied, and the level of responsibility has dramatically increased. Diplomatic platforms have essentially become the first line of security for the Republic of Armenia: The RA Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan said this, presenting the proposing amendments to the draft law on Remuneration of the Persons Holding State Positions and State Service Positions.

According to the Deputy Minister, the currently established bonus amounts are not adequate to the volume, content and responsibility of the work performed by diplomats, as well as the requirements for appointment to a diplomatic service position, namely: High professional qualifications and higher education, and knowledge of at least 2 foreign languages. According to him, as a rule, specialists with appropriate qualifications prefer to work in various programmes of international organizations or in the private sector, based on high salaries, service guarantees, and profits.

Mnatsakan Safaryan noted that the relations and peculiarities connected with the diplomats’ payment are regulated by the law on Remuneration of the Persons Holding State Positions and State Service Positions. “The legislator has provided as a bonus for civil service positions, clearly defining the cases and amount of that bonus. An exception has also been provided for, not extending the 30 percent bonus limit to a number of positions, for example, the President, Vice President and Judge of the Constitutional Court, those holding military service positions in the defense, national security, state protection, police systems of the Republic of Armenia, employees of the foreign intelligence service, penitentiary service, rescue service, prosecutors, etc. Diplomats are given bonuses for diplomatic ranks, which are set at 3 percent of the diplomat’s official salary, and for each subsequent higher diplomatic rank, the bonus increases by 1 percent,” he said.

The main rapporteur underscored that the additional payments given to diplomats for diplomatic ranks are currently not part of the above-mentioned exception in the law. Therefore, it is proposed also to include them in the abovementioned list.

The Government proposes to set the additional payment for each rank of a diplomat 80 percent.

In the opinion of the Chair of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Vladimir Vardanyan, the draft law under debate is intended to significantly improve the social guarantees of diplomatic service staff, which allow them to carry out merit-based professional work. According to the Committee Chair, the remuneration of the above-mentioned individuals has not changed for rather a long time. Emphasizing the adoption of the draft, underlined that even with the proposing amendments, we will not have a situation where the diplomatic service will be able to solve all the main problems it faces.