New Details on $42 Million Worthless Armament Purchase Case

The newspaper 'Zhoghovourd' reports that details have emerged regarding the criminal case initiated over alleged worthless weapons purchased for $42 million during the presidency of Armenia's third president, Serge Sargsyan.

On March 11, in the Tatev community of Syunik province, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced: “We have a case, people! The government of Serge Sargsyan paid $42 million for weapons that do not work at all, they are completely useless, just scrap metal. A criminal case has been initiated, let Serge Sargsyan come and answer for this.”

According to the newspaper, this revelation was made by the National Security Service, and later the criminal case was sent to the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

Reports indicate that officials from the armed forces between 2016 and 2017 have been summoned for questioning in connection with this criminal case, and they asserted that they were unaware of the weapons' ineffectiveness at the time of purchase. They stated that it was only when the weapons were tried for use that they realized they were incapable of detecting or destroying enemy drones.

Notably, Seyran Ohanyan, who served as Minister of Defense from 2008 to 2016, denied this claim in an interview with the newspaper. In contrast, Vigen Sargsyan did not respond to our phone calls and personal messages.

For more details, refer to today's issue of the newspaper.