Which Ambassadors previously refused from their official salaries?

During the government session on April 25, it was decided to approve the draft submitted by the Foreign Minister, according to which it is proposed to allocate more than 347 million AMD to the Foreign Ministry. According to the justification of the decision, the allocation of the sum is related to the circumstance that in the past a number of appointed heads of diplomatic missions abroad were persons who were not from the MFA system and they had refused from their salaries, medical insurance, and some had taken care of the medical insurance expenses of the Consulate staff. And since May 2018, ambassadors are appointed from the MFA system within the framework of the policy adopted by the MFA. Thus, the need to secure the aforementioned expenses from the RA state budget has arisen.

According to the draft decision submitted by the Foreign Ministry, these diplomatic and consular missions are located in Vatican, London, Lyon, Los Angeles and Geneva.

Let’s see who former ambassadors and consuls were in the aforementioned locations.

The Armenian Ambassador to Vatican was Mikayel Minasyan, who is the son-in-law of RA ex-president Serzh Sargsyan. He was recalled from that position in November 2018.

The incumbent president of Armenia, Armen Sargsyan, was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to London. He occupied the post until 2018, and on March 2, 2018 he was elected President of the Republic of Armenia by the RA National Assembly. Armen Kirakosyan has replaced him as Ambassador.

Sergei Sarkisov was the Consul General of Armenia in Los Angeles. He is a Russian citizen, does not speak Armenian, is a businessman and is the president of “RESO- Guarantee” company. According to the Forbes magazine, Sarkisov is the 96th richest person in Russia.

During his tenure, Sarkisov also paid the mandatory insurance costs of the staff of the Consulate General. Since September 6, 2018, Sarkisov has been replaced by Armen Barbudyan in that post.

Interestingly, Sergei Sarkisov’s brother, Nikolay Sarkisov, is the Consul of Armenia in Lyon. He continues to occupy the post of Consul General of Armenia in Lyon. Nikolay Sarkisov is Vice President of “RESO-Guarantee”.

Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer, was the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Geneva, the Swiss Confederation. No ambassador has been appointed to Geneva since his death.