Armenia plans cutting both defense and IT budgets next year -  ex-official 

ArmInfo.In a world where everyone, including countries unfriendly to Armenia, is increasing spending on defense and technology, the Armenian Cabinet, on the  contrary, plans to cut spending in these areas in 2026. Economist and  former head of the State Revenue Committee David Ananyan writes about  this.

In particular, the overall figures are as follows: the expenditures  of the RA Ministry of High-Tech Industry for 2026 were planned at  37.35 billion drams, while in 2025 they were 47.51 billion drams. The  reduction amounted to 10.16 billion drams, or 21.4%.

Military industry spending in 2026 is projected at 4.97 billion  drams, compared to 5.72 billion drams in 2025. This represents a  reduction of approximately 746 million drams, or 13%.

In particular: 4.16 billion drams are planned for Research and  Development Work in 2025, and 3.56 billion drams in 2026. This  represents a decrease of 14.5%. 1.50 billion drams are planned for  Production of Prototypes in 2025, and 1.28 billion drams in 2026.  This represents a decrease of 14.1%. 53.7 million drams are planned  for "Professional Personnel Training" in 2025, and 25 million drams  in 2026. A 53.5% reduction. A new line item of 100 million drams has  been added to the "International Exhibitions" program.

"Thus, expenses that form the "heart" of the military industry  itself, such as R&D, prototypes, and personnel training, have been  reduced. Only exhibition funding has increased," the economist notes.

The picture for other areas is as follows:

State support for IT companies: 29.36 billion drams in 2025, 19.47  billion drams in 2026.  Decrease: 9.89 billion drams, or 33.7%.

Digital transformation: 7.15 billion drams in 2025, 8.08 billion  drams in 2026. Growth: 13%.

Telecommunications: 550 million drams in 2025, 960 million drams in  2026. Growth: 76%.

Satellite services: unchanged: 190 million drams.

In contrast, Ananyan points out, the same year's budget allocates  approximately 103 billion drams for the mortgage income tax refund  program, which effectively means support for the construction sector.  This figure is almost 20 times greater than the entire  military-industrial budget.

Thus, the state is effectively choosing to subsidize housing  construction over expanding military- industrial capacity.

"Which path is Armenia choosing: to rely on a consumer construction  boom or to build up its own technological and military capabilities?"  asks David Ananyan.

It was previously reported that, despite the fact that Armenia's  draft state budget for next year plans to increase spending by 5%,  defense spending will be cut by 15.2%.