16.5 Million Dram Spent on Business Trips at the Constitutional Court

According to information received by Armdaily.am, during the presidency of Gagik Harutyunyan at the Constitutional Court, considerable amounts were spent on business trips. To verify the authenticity of the news, the publication sent an inquiry to the President of the Constitutional Court, Hrayr Tovmasyan, to clarify how many trips the court's president, members, and head of the staff have taken from 2017 to the present and how much money has been spent during these trips.

In response, the Constitutional Court informed the publication that a total of 18 business trips had been carried out during the specified period, with the participation of 27 people in official delegations, costing approximately 16.7 million dram. Specifically, the presidents of the Constitutional Court had a total of 9 trips, the court's judges had 16 trips, and the head of the court's staff had 2 trips.

All flights were carried out in economy class, with the exception of several flights made in business class by the former President of the Constitutional Court, which was attributed to his position as a member of the National Security Council of the Republic of Armenia.

The press has also addressed the extravagant business trips of the court's president and members, particularly noting that the person who made the most business trips from the Constitutional Court between 2015-2017 was former president Gagik Harutyunyan. There were also reports that he had spent more than 30 million dram from the state budget on business trips in one year. It was also mentioned that in some cases, according to verified news, he traveled abroad accompanied by a family member, again at the expense of public funds.