Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, in his speech on the 2026 budget draft, touched upon the defense sector's expenditures, emphasizing that they are unprecedented.
"In 2018, defense expenditures amounted to $640 million, in 2025 - $1 billion 741 million, that is, the sector's expenditures increased by $1.1 billion," Suren Papikyan said.
"It is due to all this that we have been able to implement such reforms as the military serviceman certification program," he said, adding that today, a contract serviceman can receive an additional salary of 205-400 thousand drams as a result of the certification.
"At the moment, we have 65% of the military servicemen who participated in the process certified," he noted.
