Criminal Cases Initiated Against Some Gas Stations

In order to ensure the effective protection of state property interests, the prosecutor's office of Yerevan has conducted an investigation regarding the compliance of gas stations operating in Yerevan during 2017-2018 with the technical regulations set for non-food products, specifically focusing on the state control over measurement uniformity.

To this end, necessary documents and information were requested from the Market Surveillance Inspectorate of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments and from the State Revenue Committee of Armenia. According to the Public Relations Department of the RA Prosecutor General's Office, it has been revealed that based on the order of the head of the Market Surveillance Inspectorate, measurements were conducted at various gas stations in Yerevan during the specified period with the involvement of a representative from the National Institute of Metrology.

As a result, negative deviations of up to 1000 grams were recorded for diesel fuel and AI 92 and AI 95 grades of gasoline. It was found that in 2016, the certificates allowing those entities to engage in the sale of petroleum products were issued by the National Institute of Metrology of the Ministry of Economy of Armenia, stating that they are valid in the presence of seals.

However, it became clear that there were no documents in the administrative case file confirming the presence, absence, or damage of these seals. The findings from the investigations conducted by the prosecutor's office of Yerevan have been forwarded to the relevant administrative districts of Yerevan, and based on these, materials have been prepared in the respective territorial units of investigation and preliminary investigation bodies.

As a result, three entities operating in the capital that are engaged in the retail sale of petroleum products were found to have violated regulations, leading to instances of under-measurement and misleading consumers regarding the product's consumer characteristics or quality. Consequently, three criminal cases have been initiated by the Erebuni Division of the Yerevan Police and the Avan and Nor Nork investigatory division of the RA Investigative Committee under Article 212, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code.

The preliminary investigation of two of the criminal cases is being conducted in the Erebuni and Nubarashen divisions of the RA Investigative Committee, while one case is being handled in the Avan and Nor Nork investigatory division.