Pashinyan: Interest Earned on Confiscated Illicit Assets Will Be Used to Fund Pensions

YEREVAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that funds recovered through the confiscation of assets of illicit origin will be deposited into a protected account, with all interest earned directed toward pension payments.

The prime minister outlined the government’s plan during a parliamentary question-and-answer session, responding to a question from Civil Contract faction lawmaker Taguhi Ghazaryan about how the government intends to manage assets and financial resources confiscated through court rulings.

“We have recently held extensive discussions about managing illegally acquired or recovered assets. We have made a clear decision regarding the financial resources involved,” Pashinyan said.

He explained that the recovered funds would be consolidated into a protected account maintained at the Central Bank of Armenia, where they would generate interest.

“We have decided that these funds will be accumulated in a protected account. Such accounts will be held at the Central Bank, allowing them to earn interest. All interest generated will be directed toward pensions. Over time, the amount accumulated in the protected account will increase, and the interest income will grow accordingly,” the prime minister stated.

Pashinyan also addressed the question of how the government should handle confiscated real estate, noting that discussions are ongoing over whether such properties should be sold.

“There is also a discussion about whether these real estate assets should be sold. Based on our preliminary assessment, we will need to revisit this issue,” he said.

The prime minister indicated that the government is leaning toward converting confiscated properties into cash and depositing the proceeds into the same protected account.

“There is a strong possibility that these illicitly acquired properties will be converted into financial assets, which will also be deposited into the protected account so that all interest generated can be used to support pension payments,” Pashinyan explained.

Under the proposed approach, the principal amount recovered from confiscated assets would remain protected, while the interest generated would provide an additional source of funding for Armenia’s pension system.