The Goal is to Eliminate Uncompensated Fallen or Disabled Soldiers: Avetikian

Since January 1, 2017, the Soldiers' Insurance Fund has compensated family members of more than 370 fallen and disabled soldiers, totaling over 1.3 billion drams in payments. This was stated by Varoujan Avetikian, the director of the Soldiers' Insurance Fund, during a conversation with journalists.

According to him, during this period, they have managed to collect more than 18 billion drams. “We make compensations not only to the families of deceased soldiers who lost their lives during combat duty or while carrying out special missions, but we also provide compensation to those soldiers who were injured and received 1st or 2nd degree disabilities again while performing combat duties or special tasks,” he mentioned, adding that initially, the law applied only to incidents occurring after 2017, but later it was decided to extend its application to incidents that took place in 2015-2016, and then also for events from 2008-2014.

“Our goal is to ensure that there is no fallen or disabled soldier who hasn’t received compensation. The compensation for the families of those who were killed and classified as 1st degree disabled ranges between 52 and 82 million drams. 52 million is allotted to privates, 72 million drams to sergeants, and 82 million drams to officers. In the case of 2nd degree disabled soldiers, that amount is halved, and it amounts to 26-52 million drams. We do not provide the money in one lump sum; initially, we give 10 million drams, and then for the next 20 years, the monthly payment ranges from 200,000 to 300,000 drams. For 2nd degree disabled individuals, a one-time payment of 5 million drams is given, followed by monthly payments of 100,000 to 200,000 drams,” Avetikian stated.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Arzroun Hovhannisyan also emphasized that when they reach the year 1992, there will be a significant number of soldiers eligible for compensation. “The numbers will increase year by year, and the burden of monthly payments will also rise. As for the activities of the fund, the Ministry of Defense has introduced a new bill that will allow for compensations to be made not only for soldiers killed or disabled due to enemy actions on the front line but also for those stationed away from the front line,” Hovhannisyan noted.