Which Minister is Involved in Corruption Deals. "Zhoghovurd"

The names of the members of the Government of the Republic of Armenia have often been linked to corruption manifestations. For instance, publications regarding the newly appointed Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan and her husband's business interests and connections have appeared multiple times.

In particular, it is known that the company 'Armpharmacia,' owned by Anahit Avanesyan's husband, has signed 240 contracts with 44 public institutions in recent years, with a total value of about 606.7 million AMD, of which more than half—137 contracts—were signed while Avanesyan was serving as deputy minister. The contracts with various public institutions, including the Ministry of Health and its subordinate organizations, amount to 209.5 million AMD.

On January 19, the newspaper sent an inquiry to the Prime Minister's office and presented several facts about Avanesyan, former minister Arsen Torosyan, and Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan, trying to understand whether the Prime Minister considers these facts as corruption and how he feels about them.

Presenting the available facts related to Anahit Avanesyan, we sought to clarify: '1. Is this not a manifestation of corruption? What guarantees are there that once becoming a minister, Ms. Avanesyan will not continue serving personal interests? 2. How do you view the specific manifestations of patronage?'

It should be noted that similar allegations were also made against former minister Arsen Torosyan; it was noted that in 2019, he increased the state order allocated to the medical center operating under his wife's supervision from 25 million AMD to 57 million AMD. Therefore, we tried to clarify: '1. Is Arsen Torosyan's behavior not a concrete manifestation of corruption? 2. How do you assess his move?'

We also asked about the existing news concerning Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan, whether his appointment since the day he became a minister has involved appointing friends and relatives to responsible positions, and whether these are not concrete manifestations of corruption.

Thus, combining the facts, the 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper attempted to receive an official comment from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to understand how he responds to these corruption manifestations when he continuously speaks about the fight against corruption.

Days after our inquiry, we received the following response from the Prime Minister's office: 'In response to your inquiry, we state that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly expressed his stance on the fight against corruption, and if any citizens or media outlets are aware of any facts regarding corruption manifestations, we urge them to present them to law enforcement agencies. The government particularly values the role and support of mass media in fighting corruption.'

However, it should be noted that numerous publications by the media could be considered a reason for investigation by law enforcement agencies. Therefore, the ball is now in the court of the law enforcement agencies.'