YEREVAN. - Those who see no improvements in the Armenian army over the last 20 years merely act against their conscience.

Defense Minister of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan said the aforementioned at the session of the profile committee of the parliament on Friday, speaking at the discussion on the draft amendments to the Law on compensation for harm to the life and health of servicemen when defending the Republic of Armenia.

In his words, there are no military units in Armenia now which aren’t heated. The Defense Ministry also oversees that only the best food is provided to the soldiers. “Much has changed here over the last 20 years. However, the budget for the defense didn’t grow by 20 times. That is, we began solving more tasks, spending the means more efficiently. It is worth reminding that the salary of new officers is almost twice higher than the average salary in Armenia. The graduates of the International Relations Department, who work in the President’s administration, get 70-75,000 AMD as junior specialists. And the graduates of Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute get almost 300,000 AMD since the very first day, since they are military officers,” Sargsyan said.