I Do Not Accept the Suspicious Charges: Seyran Ohanyan

“I do not accept that suspicious charge, it has nothing to do with me; it was the government that made the decision,” said the former Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan during a conversation with reporters today. This statement comes in response to the announcement by the Special Investigative Service (SIS) the day before, which indicated that Ohanyan has been involved as a suspect in a crime listed under the 3rd part of Article 179 of the RA Criminal Code, suspected of misappropriating property worth 1,046,400,000 AMD.

Ohanyan noted that the company was transferred to the Ministry of Defense in 2002 and sold in 2010. “Neither I nor the Ministry of Defense could have any vested interest. It was transferred by a government decision, and sold by a government decision. I can say that the sale price at that time was 10 million dollars, which, at today’s rates, is about 9.5 million, meaning the Ministry of Defense had no vested interest. I do not accept this suspicion because it has no relation to me, as the Ministry of Defense presented the government’s decision. Moreover, they claim that a preventive measure was taken regarding my signature not to leave, I have not given testimony or a signature, because how many times can I sign? I also have a signature in the March 1 case,” he stated.

It should be noted that according to the SIS, based on the factual data obtained in the criminal case, during 2010, a draft secret decision of the Armenian government was developed by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, which, without adhering to several legal requirements, particularly without mandatory property appraisal, proposed to allow the Ministry of Defense to grant approval for the sale of property of CJSC “Zora HEK” worth 3,600,000,000 AMD to the company “Zoraget Hydro.”