State Property Transferred to South Caucasus Railway Alienated, Leaving Armenia Deprived of Strategic Transport Opportunities

The Armenian Attorney General's Office reports that the Department for the Protection of State Interests of the Prosecutor's Office has studied the issue of protecting state interests in the process of alienating and removing state property from the concessional assets of the South Caucasus Railway CJSC, based on a letter and accompanying documents received from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia. To that end, necessary documents were also requested from the State Property Management Committee and the Cadastre Committee of Armenia.

The investigation revealed that, based on Decision No. 12-A of the Government of Armenia on January 12, 2017, which addresses the demolition of real estate unsuitable for securing and operating property, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies was authorized to remove the state-owned real estate located at 21 Sevan Street in Yerevan (former parcel department) from the concessional assets transferred to South Caucasus Railway CJSC in accordance with the established legal procedure. According to this decision, the property was retrieved from the ministry and secured for alienation by the Staff of the State Property Management Department under the Government of Armenia.

It was anticipated that after the decision came into force, within six months, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies, in collaboration with South Caucasus Railway CJSC, would ensure the completion of the handover-acceptance work for the property, and together with the State Property Management Department, would conduct the separation and handover-acceptance work for the part of the property subject to alienation, registered as a single unit. Subsequently, within a three-month timeframe, the property subject to alienation would be submitted for alienation according to the law of Armenia.

Tri-partite acts of handover-acceptance for the warehouse and land parcel registered at 21/5 Sevan Street were submitted for the approval of the Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies; however, they were not approved, as it was discovered that the State Property Management Department had conducted the separation of the land parcel subject to alienation without coordinating it with the ministry and the South Caucasus Railway CJSC.

Despite the lack of signature on the handover-acceptance act, the alienation process for the mentioned property was carried out through an auction, and ownership rights were recorded for individuals. As a result, the railway lines of South Caucasus Railway CJSC were left without access, preventing the execution of loading and unloading operations.

The facts recorded during the investigation indicate that responsible officials from the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies and the State Property Management Department of Armenia failed to fulfill their official duties and did not ensure the separation and handover-acceptance of the part of real estate subject to alienation as a single unit within the established timeframe. Furthermore, the officials of the department presented the separated warehouse and land plot for alienation without performing the necessary operations. Consequently, the rights and legitimate interests of South Caucasus Railway CJSC were violated, as well as the legal interests of the Republic of Armenia, since the execution of strategically important transport operations became impossible. This has led to severe consequences for the state.

Based on the aforementioned facts, a criminal case has been initiated in the Department for the Protection of State Interests of the Armenian Attorney General's Office under the characteristics of part 2 of Article 308 of the Criminal Code of Armenia, and the preliminary investigation has been assigned to the Investigative Committee of Armenia.