THE RICH PRESIDENT OF THE POOR COUNTRY
Pan Armenian
03.10.2005, “PanARMENIAN Network” analytical department
Ilham Aliev’s salary is 20 times as much as the salary of Robert
Kocharyan and 4 times as much the salary of Vladimir Putin.
>>From now on the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev will receive
a salary of 90 million manats or approximately 19600 US dollars,
which makes 239 thousand dollars per year. With this increased salary
Ilham Aliev becomes the highest-paid president in CIS and one of
the highest-paid presidents in the world. Meanwhile, it is worth
mentioning that by living standards Azerbaijan is behind the half of
African states.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Formally, the rise of the president’s salary was
caused by the rise of the minimal salary in the country. According
to the law, the president has to be paid for his job with a sum which
is 600 times more than the minimal salary in the country. For today,
this is an unsurpassed record.
There is no country in the world where the president thinks that he
has the right to receive 600 times more than a pensioner. Maybe it’s
because of the voracious appetite of Azerbaijan rulers that more than
40 percents of Azerbaijan population live in deep poverty.
Coming to power in autumn, 2003 Aliev junior made a populist
gesture, demanding from the parliament to decrease his salary as if
to promote social justice. The parliament of Azerbaijan obeyed the
request of Aliev and decreased the presidential salary to 5,500 US
dollars. However, after half a year Aliev started increasing his
salary. In the course of two years of Aliev junior’s governance
the presidential salary was increased from 27 million to 90 million
mantas, that is by more than three times. Is it much or not? Perhaps
it will be easier to understand comparing with the salaries of other
presidents. According to Baku published “Novoye Vremya” newspaper,
the current salary of Ilham Aliev is equal to the salary of the US
president before 2001 when it was doubled by the decision of the
Congress. USA is an extremely rich country, but in Azerbaijan one
third of the population lives in poverty.
Excluding monarchs, George Bush is today the highest-paid leader in
the world. Last year his income was estimated 785 thousand dollars,
400 thousand of which was his salary. But it should be noted that
George Bush pays a tax of 80 thousand and makes other donations to
the church and charity organizations. So, if we compare the financial
abilities of George Bush and Ilham Aliev, the latter will hardly stay
back because in contrast to the US president who accurately declares
his incomes from dividends, Aliev junior does not declare his shares
from oil contracts. Baku journalists claim that Aliev’s clan takes
every fifth dollar from oil export incomes.
Taking into account the mentioned facts, the rise of the salary looks
simply provoking. Aliev has appointed a salary which is four times more
than the salary of Vladimir Putin and three times more than the salary
of Jack Shirak. The president of China Hu Jintao will perhaps feel
uneasy if he learns that his salary is 8 times less than the salary
of Aliev. The president of Check Republic must be proud to have shaken
hands with Ilham Aliev, because his salary is only 1500 US dollars. The
salaries of Ilham Aliev’s GUAM partners are also much less than their
Azeri colleague. Victor Yushenko receives 4700 US dollars and Michael
Sahakashvili – 2180 US dollars. Byelorussian president Alexander
Lukashenko, who earns only 300 dollars per month, can be sure that
that the price of his birthday gift from Ilham Aliev can be more than
the whole salary fund of the Byelorussian president’s administration.
Latvian president may also envy the salary of Ilham Aliev. Vaira
Vike-Freiberga had to keep her Canadian citizenship not to lose
her pension.
In her interview to a Latvian radio station she confessed that if
she had to live only on her salary, she would appear in the same
dress almost all the time. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
Salome Zurabishvili has also decided to save the funds of Georgian
state budget. Thanks to her French citizenship she receives a special
payment from the Elisey palace and her salary is higher than that of
Michael Saakashvili.
As compared with Ilham Aliev, Robert Kocharyan looks more than
modest. His salary is only 400 thousand drams which is equal to
approximately 890 US dollars. Ilham Aliev has not still increased the
military budget of Azerbaijan, making it equal to the whole budget
of Armenia, as promised.
However already today he puts 20 times higher taxes than his Armenian
colleague. By the way, Azeri journalists claim that the President
of Armenia earns only 380 dollars and is the least-paid president in
Eurasia. The journalists of course say what is wished instead of what
exists, but as it is said, money is not the thing that makes people
happy. Anyway, it should be added that there is hardly a president
who does not know ways to live without salary…