Army buyout bill to be put on RA NA agenda 

ArmInfo.  The bill on buying out service in the Armenian Armed Forces will not be included in the agenda of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. There  were no votes "for" the document, 87 deputies voted against with 1  abstention.

As the head of the ruling Civil Contract faction Hayk Konjoryan  stated at the NA session on June 17, the issue of reforming the  country's armed forces is constantly in the center of attention of  the authorities, but in the form in which it was presented, it is  unacceptable for the ruling force.

It is curious that among those who voted against was the author of  the legislative initiative, the National Assembly deputy from the  ruling Civil Contract faction Hayk Sargsyan.

The bill envisaged reducing the term of service in the Armenian Armed  Forces from 24 months to 18 months. The stumbling block for the  deputies, including those from the ruling faction, was the initiative  of the NA deputy Hayk Sargsyan, who proposed the possibility of  buying off service for a tidy sum. For example, 24 million drams  could be paid for a term of service of 1 month, 20 million drams for  4 months, and 15 million drams for the renunciation of citizenship by  males under 18. According to the author of the legislative  initiative, the country has recently seen an outflow of conscripts.  If a few years ago about 30 thousand people were called up for  military service, today this figure has dropped to 20 thousand. One  of the problematic issues continues to be the issue of renunciation  of citizenship by males under 18 years of age. Many are also exempted  from service due to illnesses. Ultimately, analyzing the number of  citizens called up for military service over the past 10 years, it  becomes clear that only 30-40 percent of conscripts are ultimately  called up. In order to stop this process, it is proposed to establish  a state fee of 15 million drams for citizens who intend to change  their citizenship. Only after paying this amount will citizens be  able to renounce their citizenship.