No One is Pursuing Henzel Mkoyan, Says Investigation Agency

The statement by Henzel Mkoyan, the majoritarian MP from Akhalkalak, does not correspond to reality, according to the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. This was reported by Aliq.ge. This response follows Mkoyan’s claim that he and his close associates are being pursued.

According to Mkoyan, on the night of September 16, the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance conducted a search at a company belonging to his brother and seized almost all the documents. He links these actions to his political activity, asserting that he is being pressured to withdraw his candidacy.

Mkoyan is a current member of the ruling party “Georgian Dream” and was previously an MP for the “United National Movement” during the previous government. He is also preparing to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections. However, “Georgian Dream” has this time rejected his candidacy for majoritarian MP and has not included him in its proportional list.

Regarding the alleged pursuit, the investigation agency confirms that based on collective applications from citizens, an investigation has been initiated against one of the gas companies operating in Samtskhe-Javakheti for fraud and large-scale tax evasion under Articles 2 of the Georgian Criminal Code. Statements regarding a political context do not correspond to reality.

For the purpose of obtaining factual grounds, documents relevant to the case have been seized by court order, not computer equipment. The agency also reports that no coercive methods have been applied that would hinder the company from continuing its operations and supplying gas to the population. Furthermore, at the end of the investigative actions, one of the company leaders signed a document confirming that the seizure of documents would not impede the company's future activities.

It is worth noting that Mkoyan had warned just the day before that Javakheti would soon be without gas.