The average monthly salary of family doctors will be raised up to 84,700 AMD next year against 7,000 AMD this year, RA Deputy Minister of Finance Pavel Safaryan stated in Parliament.

He stressed that health care institutions are independent is setting the salary rates of medical personnel. As regards budgetary financing, it depends on the number of patients. In his turn, RA Minister of Health Harutyun Kushkyan informed the Parliament members that, under budgetary financing mechanisms, the directors of outpatient clinics have no right to fix low salary rates. He called on the doctors discontented with the directors’ arbitrary rule to turn to him.

The Minister said that doctors’ average salary will be 80,000 AMD (about U.S. $210) next year, and that of paramedical workers 54,000 AMD.

The Parliament member Vardan Bostanjyan reminded the Minister that representatives of a certain social stratum pay rather large sums to doctors as “thanksgiving.” Minister Kushkyan liked the definition “thanksgiving.” The Minister does not consider the extra payments to doctors as bribes. He promised to settle the problem.

The member of the Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan pointed out that doctors have to pay part of their unofficial incomes to their superior as a “tax.”