Special Investigative Service Denies Reports of Investigator in Mikayel Minasyan Case Planning to Resign

The Special Investigative Service of the Republic of Armenia has denied information circulating in the media that the investigator in the Mikayel Minasyan case is planning to submit a resignation due to failure to carry out an order to present new charges. This was reported by the Special Investigative Service of the Republic of Armenia.

“We find it necessary to inform that the publication in the 'Zhoghovurd' newspaper regarding the application for resignation by the head of the investigative group, senior investigator Borya Chilingaryan of the Special Investigative Service, in connection with the criminal case initiated for abuse of official power during the property alienation process of the 'Zora HPP' LLC, and disagreements with the head of the Special Investigative Service in the matter is blatant disinformation. The dissemination of this information is merely related to the decision made by the investigator to end the preliminary investigation concerning the defendants in this criminal case on April 9, 2021,” the statement said.

However, aiming to keep the public free from baseless speculations regarding the conducted preliminary investigation of the aforementioned criminal case and emphasizing the right of society to receive impartial and complete information, we find it necessary to present some details regarding this matter:

Thus, it has been established during the preliminary investigation of the criminal case that in 2010, a secret decision draft of the Government of Armenia developed by the Ministry of Defense proposed to authorize the Ministry of Defense to approve the alienation of the company's property valued at 3,600,000,000 AMD without adhering to several legal requirements, particularly without justifying the need for alienation and mandatory valuation of the property. Subsequently, on December 16, 2010, a secret letter regarding the delivery of the government decision draft was prepared in the name of the Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan, which was sent to the Government Staff the same day at Seyran Ohanyan's instructions. The decision draft was discussed in a secret procedure at the government session and adopted as decision 360-N on December 16, 2010, on the basis of which the entire property of the 'Zora HPP' LLC, a state-owned enterprise with a mandatory estimated value of 4,646,400,000 AMD, was alienated to 'Zoraget Hydro' LLC for an amount lower than its actual value by 1,046,400,000 AMD, without establishing the market value through proper assessment.

For committing the aforementioned act, Seyran Ohanyan has been charged under the first part of Article 179, part 3 of the RA Criminal Code. It was also established in the criminal case that after the alienation of the property of 'Zora HPP' LLC, under the pretext of promoting the development of hydropower in Armenia, but actually for the personal interest of setting benefits for entities connected to the former president Mikayel Minasyan, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan presented to the government session on September 8, 2011, without proper justification, an additional question regarding a draft decision of the Government of Armenia on setting the maximum capacity for small hydropower plants, proposing to set a maximum capacity of up to 30 MW instead of the previously established limit of 10 MW.

The presented draft was discussed and adopted as decision N 1300-A of the Government of Armenia on September 8, 2011. Subsequently, on September 16, 2011, while holding the position of chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission, R. Nazaryan accepted the decision of the Government of Armenia regarding the maximum capacity for small hydropower plants. Ignoring the need for professional studies and analyses around the proposed changes, and taking into account the existing water resources and the resulting construction statistics for hydropower plants, he ordered to process the decision through the competent administration of the commission solely by making a numerical change and the decision regarding changing Methodology N 207 was adopted unanimously by the commission members on September 28, 2011, allowing a maximum capacity of up to 30 MW for small hydropower plants.

After the adoption of this decision, although several tens of small hydropower plants with a capacity of up to 10 MW have received permits for electricity production, no new hydropower plants with the capacity between 10 and 30 MW were constructed. Meanwhile, the only large HPP, 'Zoraget Hydro' LLC, with a capacity of 26.4 MW has been inappropriately included in the list of small hydropower plants, thus benefiting from the higher and stable tariffs established by Armenian legislation for such power plants. Specifically, during the period from 2012 to 2019, instead of the tariffs determined for the electricity produced and delivered from the hydropower plant of 'Zoraget Hydro' LLC, tariffs exceeding twice the standard were set, resulting in additional revenue of 7,052,065,099 AMD from physical and legal persons consuming electricity in Armenia.

Decisions have been made regarding these described actions indicating that no criminal proceedings will be initiated against Armen Movsisyan due to death, while charges have been brought against Robert Nazaryan, Nikolay Grigoryan, Shiraz Kirakosyan, and Mushegh Koshcheryan under Article 308, part 2 of the RA Criminal Code. Considering that there is a combination of evidence regarding the apparent crimes attributed to defendants Seyran Ohanyan, Robert Nazaryan, Nikolay Grigoryan, Shiraz Kirakosyan, and Mushegh Koshcheryan that is adequate for compiling an accusatory conclusion against them, while taking into account the involvement of other officials in the alienation process of 'Zora HPP' LLC's property and the circumstances of newly discovered cases of laundering proceeds of crime committed without the defendants' participation, it is necessary to continue the preliminary investigation of the criminal case. Therefore, by the decision of the investigation body, the case related to the aforementioned defendants has been separated from the criminal case, and the preliminary investigation was completed on April 9, 2021, as announced to the parties. The preliminary investigation continues regarding other parts of the criminal case.

Note: A suspect or accused in an alleged crime is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia with a legal judgment that has entered into force.