Defense Ministry Signs 2.4 Billion Dram Contract with Company Linked to 'My Step' Alliance Candidate Roman Muradyan

On September 18 of this year, the Ministry of Defense signed a contract worth 2 billion 389 million drams with the company 'Gazoil'. The company was established on June 28, 2019, just two and a half months before the contract was signed.

Under the contract, 'Gazoil' is to supply the Ministry of Defense with 4,779 tons of diesel fuel during October-December. The company was selected as a supplier through an urgent open competition.

According to the registry of legal entities, 'Gazoil' was founded on June 28 of this year. Its sole owner is 27-year-old Mame Amiryan, who is of Yezidi descent. However, the real owner of the company is Roman Muradyan, who was a candidate from the 'My Step' alliance in the 2018 parliamentary elections from the Ararat region. Muradyan is not a member of the 'Civil Contract' party but is a supporter.

“It’s my firm. At the time when the firm was being established, I was not in Armenia. My friend Mame Amiryan and I decided to open the firm. He is simply a Persian language specialist and speaks Persian well, so since the contract was related to Persia, we decided he would be the one, until I come back,” Muradyan told Hetq.

Roman Muradyan suggested that it is possible for Mame Amiryan to eventually leave the list of company owners and that he might take his place.

Currently, Roman Muradyan is the chairman of the board of trustees of the State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports of Armenia, replacing National Assembly Deputy Arsen Julfalakyan. Notably, Roman Muradyan served as the head of the Yerevan center of the Food Safety Inspectorate (FSI) from 2016 to 2018 and was the advisor to the FSI director from 2017 to 2018.

According to the procurement accountability system armpes.am, the contract signed with 'Gazoil' is the second largest fuel purchasing contract of the year. The largest diesel fuel purchase contract was signed with 'Maxoil' on October 30 of this year, with the Ministry of Defense purchasing aviation fuel worth 3 billion 148 million drams from 'Maxoil'.

Roman Muradyan stated that they won the competition announced by the Ministry of Defense because they offered the lowest price. He assured that the 'Civil Contract' party or friends with power had no influence on their victory in the competition.

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