Damage of 50 Million AMD Inflicted on the State by Sevan Psychiatric Hospital

The State Interests Protection Division of the Republic of Armenia's Prosecutor General's Office has examined the documents related to the inspection conducted by the Financial Control Inspection of the Ministry of Finance at the Sevan Psychiatric Hospital LLC. During the inspection, information was also requested from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia.

According to the information received from the Public Relations Division of the Prosecutor's Office, it was revealed that the Sevan Psychiatric Hospital LLC purchased 5 types of food products at prices exceeding the planned amount by 553,900 AMD during the years 2014-2016. It was also determined that the purchased and sold food products exceeded the prescribed quantities by a total of about 40 million AMD.

The examination revealed that in 2015, the Sevan Psychiatric Hospital LLC was almost entirely financed by the state budget, and the corresponding financial resources could only be allocated by the state in the amount calculated based on the prescribed norms. In other words, the LLC could not have surplus funds for purchasing food products at higher costs than the established maximum amounts.

Additionally, it was recorded that the company, violating the requirements of the Law on Procurement, acquired a vehicle worth 18 million AMD on December 15, 2015, without a tender, in a negotiation procedure not foreseen in the procurement plan. According to the decision of the Government of Armenia dated July 24, 2008, and the order of the Minister of Finance dated October 24, 2013, the engine capacity of the purchased vehicle should not have exceeded 1.8 liters, and the maximum purchase price was set at 8.5 million AMD. Moreover, it was found that the company had been warned about the necessity to comply with these criteria by a relevant letter from the head of the Ministry of Health's staff.

However, the company, without justification, acquired a Toyota Prado vehicle with an engine capacity of 2.7 liters at a price exceeding the planned amount by 9.5 million AMD. In other words, the employees of the LLC used their regulatory or other powers against the interests of that organization and for the benefit of themselves or others, as well as mismanaged the state resources entrusted to them, resulting in particularly large damage to the state totaling about 50 million AMD and causing serious consequences.

Considering that the investigation revealed information containing evident signs of a crime, a criminal case was initiated under point 1 of part 3 of Article 179 and part 2 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, and it was forwarded to the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia for further investigation.