YEREVAN. – The Prime Minister made a very comprehensive speech about this, followed by a clarification by the Prime Minister's spokesman, which referred to the increase of salaries of ministers, deputy ministers and governors. The governor of Armenia’s Kotayk Province, Romanos Petrosyan, said this in a conversation with reporters in the National Assembly today, referring to the prime minister’s secret instruction whereby the salaries of ministers, deputy ministers, secretaries-general, and provincial governors were raised.

He did not want to mention how much his salary has gone up by. “I have no official right to comment on any secret document,” he said.

The governor reminded that they are declaring their income, which is openly presented on the Internet.

In response to the journalist's observation that there is a dissatisfaction with the staff of the state apparatus that only the minister, provincial governor, and those close to the governor are receiving a bonus, Romanos Petrosyan responded: “I 100% dismiss that on my part. All employees of the provincial hall received bonuses, and we have about 100 employees at the moment. Nearly 90 percent of employees of provincial subordinate institutions were awarded at the end of last year (…).” Romanos Petrosyan added that it is also a policy aimed at mitigating the social situation.

Asked if he is now satisfied with his salary, Romanos Petrosyan said: “To be honest, being a provincial governor is not a job for me. This is a public service. I consider my work a debt to our statehood and state. I don't measure my work productivity with salary.”