With just over three months remaining before parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday announced an upcoming increase in Armenia’s modest pensions, a move critics quickly portrayed as an effort to court elderly voters.
“Relatively low pensions will increase by 10,000 drams ($26), relatively high pensions will increase by less,” Pashinyan said in a video message.
He provided no additional details about the measure, which will take effect on April 1. Labor and Social Affairs Minister Arsen Torosyan later clarified that the 10,000-dram raise will apply to “basic” retirement benefits currently set at 24,000 drams per month. Armenia’s average pension currently stands at about 49,000 drams ($128).
The Armenian government last increased pensions in 2022 and repeatedly rejected opposition calls for further hikes in subsequent years. Pashinyan himself argued against such increases last year.
“If we raise the pensions by 11,000 drams or 10,400 drams per month, what will a pensioner do [with that money?]” he said on December 5.
The remark drew backlash from many pensioners struggling to make ends meet. Their frustration was compounded by the government’s continued payment of large bonuses to ministers, deputy ministers, and other senior officials.
Pashinyan said Wednesday that the pension increase primarily reflects stronger-than-expected economic growth recorded last year. Opposition leaders and other critics dismissed that explanation, arguing that the prime minister is seeking to win support from the country’s nearly 600,000 pensioners ahead of the June 7 vote. Gegham Manukyan, a parliament deputy from the Hayastan alliance, called the measure a “vote bribe.”
Another major opposition force led by billionaire Samvel Karapetyan claimed credit for Pashinyan’s policy reversal. Karapetyan’s nephew and close associate Narek Karapetyan, who coordinates the newly formed Strong Armenia party, had again criticized the government’s reluctance to raise pensions in comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Tuesday.
“If Samvel Karapetyan forced them to increase the pensions before the elections, can you imagine what he will do if he becomes prime minister?” Narek Karapetyan wrote in a social media post following Pashinyan’s announcement.
Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party has in recent days signaled concern about the electoral prospects of opposition forces led by Karapetyan, former President Robert Kocharyan, and businessman Gagik Tsarukyan. Some of their senior allies and supporters argue the surprise pension hike is further evidence that Pashinyan fears losing the upcoming elections.
Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan, a senior ruling party figure, denied any link between the measure and the vote. Like Pashinyan, he said the increase was made possible by Armenia’s 7.2 percent GDP growth in 2025.
Papoyan indicated that the higher pensions—absent from the 2026 state budget—will require roughly 75 billion drams ($197 million) in additional government spending. He said the government plans to draw on its reserve fund to cover the costs.
