There Is Distortion of Information in the NSS Statement: Ohanyan Reveals New Details on Arms Purchases

The former Minister of Defense of Armenia and head of the 'Armenia' parliamentary faction, Seyran Ohanyan, stated in an interview with NEWS.am that the unusable missiles mentioned in the NSS’s latest statement, supplied in 2011, were not purchased by the Ministry of Defense during his tenure, and no payment was made for them. Instead, they were temporarily stored at the request of the supplying company for future transfer to another country.

“The issue is that there is a distortion of certain facts and information in the NSS statement. In 2011, the supplier company supplied aviation ammunition to the RA Armed Forces, of which 30 percent was accepted by the relevant department of the Armed Forces—General Staff, and the Ministry of Defense made payment for that. The 30 percent was usable, while the remaining 70 percent was deemed unusable, and the Ministry of Defense did not accept it. However, since this is military ammunition, with considerable size and explosive and fire hazards, the supplying company requested us to store it, and we accepted it in the relevant missile artillery storage sites of the Armed Forces with the condition that the supplier company would obtain permission for transit transport or for supply or sale to another country. During my time, we did not accept it and did not make any payment for it. As there is an ongoing investigation, I can only add that it was later purchased in 2018. Any further questions can be directed to the investigating authority and the Ministry of Defense. The NSS statement may imply that this faulty weaponry was accepted by the Ministry of Defense during my tenure, which does not correspond to reality,” he noted.

Seyran Ohanyan revealed that he was interrogated as a witness months ago within the framework of the ongoing criminal investigation. It is noteworthy that on September 25, the NSS announced that the former head of the aviation of the RA Armed Forces had been arrested on suspicion of abusing power and committing official forgeries, leading to material severe consequences. According to the statement, he was aware in his official capacity that one of the companies supplying arms and ammunition imported missiles produced between 1985-1991 into Armenia as early as 2011. Some time after the supply, part of the missiles did not fire and were removed from the balance, while the remaining ones were not used at all, including during the 44-day war that started on September 27, 2020.