995 citizens of Armenia who evaded the military service have paid a total of 2.290 billion ADM (US$4.8 million) in 2019 to avoid criminal persecution.

A law passed last year allows those over the age of 27 who never did their compulsory military service to pay a fee and thus avoid prosecution.

The amount of the fee, according to Armenia’s ministry of Defense, differs and is based on the number of years said person has evaded military service.

For example, if a citizen has been “on the run” for nine years, then he has to pay a minimum of 200 times the monthly minimum wage (in this case it is calculated at 1,000 AMD) - 3 million 600 thousand AMD (1000x200x18).

The ministry says these funds are deposited by citizens in a special account opened for this purpose by the state authorized defense body and used to meet military needs in the manner prescribed by the government.