Problems Persist with Police Skoda Vehicles: 'Hraparak'

'Hraparak' newspaper reports: 'The Czech-made Skoda Octavia vehicles acquired for the patrol police are not performing as expected. This is acknowledged by the patrol police officers themselves. They informed us that new Skoda cars are facing systematic issues, primarily due to the additional equipment installed on them. We previously reported that the vehicle procurement competition was conducted with violations, repeatedly changing the price and parameters to ensure Skoda won at all costs.

We indicated that the installation of such a large number of lights and gadgets complicates the cars' operations. As a result, the gearboxes of the Skoda Octavia cars, which operate electronically, are easily going out of order. The cause is the powerful floodlights mounted on the sides of the vehicles, leading to malfunctions. We learned that there are currently more than ten vehicles out of order. In total, about 60 cars are not operational for various reasons, with some having been involved in accidents during service. It is noteworthy that parts for the damaged vehicles are difficult to source.

The official representative of Skoda in Armenia, 'Czech Auto', owned by former head of the Civil Aviation Administration Artur Movsesyan, is struggling to provide proper maintenance for the vehicles they sold. The police were aware of these risks in advance, yet they insisted on acquiring Skoda vehicles, possibly due to political motivations, to avoid purchasing 'Toyota'. Now, they regret their decision. In private conversations, they admitted that they have faced problems since the day the cars arrived and are now planning to procure vehicles of a different brand for the regions.'

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