By Lia Avagyan
Armenia’s government approved a controversial reform proposal on Wednesday that would allow young men to pay to significantly shorten their mandatory military service, sparking fresh concerns about social inequality and systemic favoritism in the conscription system.
The draft bill, introduced by ruling Civil Contract party MP Hayk Sargsyan and endorsed during the May 22 Cabinet session, sets new financial terms and service options aimed at modernizing Armenia’s conscription framework amid ongoing security threats. Under the revised version, a one-month symbolic service will require a payment of $62,000, up from the earlier proposed $52,000. A four-month option would cost $47,000, while the standard 24-month term would remain unpaid but mandatory for those who cannot or choose not to pay.
Defense Minister Suren Papikyan said the bill includes both technical and substantive changes and emphasized its goal to expand the country’s reserve forces. “Even one month of training ensures that a young man becomes familiar with weapons and enters the military reserve,” he said, adding that the changes also set the maximum age for compulsory service at 32.
The bill also proposes that Armenian male citizens under the age of 16 will face a financial obligation of $39,000, which can be fulfilled through military service or by renouncing Armenian citizenship and paying the fee.
The legislation will now head to the National Assembly for debate. Its passage would mark the most sweeping overhaul of military service policy in over a decade and comes amid growing government concern over draft evasion and recruitment shortfalls.
Public backlash over “legalized inequality”
The proposal has drawn strong criticism from civil society commentators, who say it institutionalizes a dual-track system based on wealth. Eduard Arakelyan, a military expert at the Yerevan-based Regional Center for Democracy and Security, called the government’s approach “a quiet surrender to systemic corruption,” arguing that by turning military obligations into a financial transaction, the reform erodes both trust and equality before the law.
Publicist Gor Madoyan offered a more blunt assessment in his commentary posted to Facebook: “If you have money, you serve one month; if you’re poor, you serve 24. This isn’t reform—this is legalized bribery.” He accused the government of deepening class segregation and undermining the moral fabric of society. “Soon, families will take out loans or mortgage homes just to buy their children one month of safety,” Madoyan wrote, calling the defense minister’s justification “shameless.”
Hayk Khanumyan, a former Minister of Territorial Administration in Nagorno-Karabakh, echoed these concerns in a social media post, stating: “By endorsing the ‘poor man’s army’ bill, the government has admitted its inability to govern. This is a confession of total collapse in public administration.”
Critics also pointed to what they described as hypocrisy: high-profile exemptions reportedly given to officials’ children and the wealthy, while the average citizen bears the brunt of military risk. The move, they argue, legitimizes an already unequal system instead of addressing its underlying causes.
Demographics and security pressures drive reform push
The controversial reform is part of a broader legislative package aimed at addressing Armenia’s longstanding manpower shortages and loopholes in the draft system. According to Hayk Sargsyan, the author of the bill, nearly 9,000 young men renounced Armenian citizenship before age 18 between 2020 and 2024 to avoid service. Others exploited medical exemptions or remained abroad until they exceeded the maximum age for service.
The government argues that these measures are necessary to close legal gaps and ensure that more citizens contribute to national defense, even through alternative service contributions or financial participation.
While the bill’s authors say it balances equity and pragmatism, public outrage suggests that for many Armenians, the reform represents a painful acknowledgment of reality: a conscription system now openly stratified by economic status, formalizing inequalities that critics say have long existed in practice.
The post Armenian government approves pay-to-avoid-service bill, triggering public backlash appeared first on CIVILNET.