Adibekian: Judges receive higher salaries than president

“Each country decides its minimum wage and consumer basket. The minimum wage is 1,800 Euros in Luxembourg and 71 Euros in Moldova,” the head of Sociometer Center, sociologist Aharon Adibekian told reporters today, when commenting on the minimum wage and consumer basket as well as the increase in officials’ salaries. According to him, in every country the minimum wage changes in parallel with changes in living standards.

In Armenia the poverty threshold is $80, that is, the middle class is approaching the poverty line in terms of income, the sociologist said.

“Those pensioners who get pensions of 18,000 drams are very close to the poverty line,” Adibekian noted.

“Singapore’s prime minister is the highest-paid in the world: his salary is a million dollars. US president receives about $400,000, while presidents of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Armenia receive the lowest salaries.

In his words, Armenia has no right to save on managers as work efficiency depends on this.

“The highest salaries are in our judicial system. A judge receives 2-3 times as much as the country’s president,” A. Adibekian said.