Deputies of the National Assembly of Armenia have completed the process of submitting their property and income declarations for 2013, revealing that there are 19 dollar millionaires in the parliament. Out of these deputies, 9 represent the Republican Party of Armenia, another 9 represent the Prosperous Armenia faction, and one is an independent deputy, Arayik Grigoryan. Together, these individuals have declared massive sums totaling 49.1 billion drams, 80.7 million US dollars, and 27.1 million euros. In dollar terms, this total amount reaches 235 million dollars, whereas the same indicator at the beginning of 2013 stood at 172.7 million dollars.
Prosperous Armenia maintains its status as the wealthiest faction, with the assets declared by its members estimated at 163.6 million dollars. According to official data, the richest deputy in the Armenian parliament is Prosperous Armenia leader Gagik Tsarukyan, who declared 134.2 million dollars. Samvel Alexanyan holds the status of the richest deputy from the Republican Party, having declared 36.4 million dollars.
Deputies' declarations have long been a subject of wide public discussion, demonstrating the scale of the merging of politics and big business. Interestingly, the number of millionaires is evenly distributed between the ruling force and the largest opposition faction.
These data provide a clear picture of the parliamentarians' financial capabilities, although the question arises as to how accurately the presented figures reflect reality. Time will tell how these indicators will change in subsequent years.
