New Details on the Acquisition of Poor Quality and Expensive Tents for Soldiers: Prosecutor's Office

On October 21, 2021, during the investigation of a criminal case, it was substantiated that responsible officials from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia (RA) and the RA Armed Forces improperly exploited their official positions, violating the requirements of the RA Law on Procurement and the RA Government Decision No. 526-N dated May 4, 2017. Instead of initiating a competitive process, they carried out a single-source procurement procedure under conditions where special or exclusive rights were absent, aimed at the acquisition of material goods that do not constitute 'military equipment, weapons, ammunition, and necessary supplies for military technical means.'

This was reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office, noting that as a result, on August 20, 2021, a contract was signed with an individual K. R. for the purchase of 6 tents of the 'UST-56' type at a value of 4,820,000 AMD. Additionally, evidence was obtained indicating that without having the mandatory specifications stipulated by Armenian legislation regarding the purchase item, the mentioned officials accepted 261 tents from a company on May 22, 2021, without verifying their quality characteristics.

Subsequently, instead of initiating the legally prescribed competitive procedure, they initiated and carried out a single-source procurement procedure for the acquisition of tents. Within this framework, on May 22, 2021, to ensure the compliance of the quality characteristics of the tents accepted from the indicated company, they described objectively unjustified, inadequate, and incomplete conditions regarding the specifications of the purchased item, as well as set prices above market value. As a result, on June 22, 2021, they signed a contract with the company for the purchase of 261 tents amounting to a total of 7,605,000 AMD.

These actions resulted in significant material consequences. Based on a sufficient combination of evidence obtained in the criminal case, final charges have been brought against A. T., the chief of the material service of the rear administration of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, under part 3, clause 1 of Article 179 of the RA Criminal Code, for whom arrest has been chosen as a preventive measure, as well as against A. K., the deputy commander for rear affairs of military unit N, who later held the position of deputy commander of the territorial defense and reserve forces of the RA Ministry of Defense. The court has rejected the motion to apply arrest as a preventive measure against him.

These individuals have been relieved of their positions. Charges under part 3, clause 1 of Article 38-179 of the RA Criminal Code have also been brought against T. P., the material service chief of the same military unit. The investigation of the severed part of the criminal case regarding these individuals has been completed. The prosecutor supervising the legality of the proceedings has approved the indictment and sent the criminal case to the first instance court of general jurisdiction in Yerevan for substantive examination. The investigation of the remaining part of the criminal case is still ongoing.