Court Allows Gagik Khachatryan to Leave Country for Medical Treatment

Today, a court session was held in the Yerevan General Jurisdiction Court, presided over by Judge Arthur Mkrtchyan, regarding the case of former head of the State Revenue Committee and former Minister of Finance Gagik Khachatryan and his nephew Karen Khachatryan. Prior to the start of the session, Khachatryan's lawyer, Yerem Sargsyan, mentioned that although Khachatryan had a fever, he would present himself at the court.

Shortly after, Khachatryan entered the courtroom with a cane, accompanied by a close relative. According to Judge Arthur Mkrtchyan's ruling, Khachatryan has been granted permission to leave Armenia for medical treatment. He was supposed to depart today, but, according to his lawyer Yerem Sargsyan, doctors have not allowed him to do so.

During today’s court session, testimony was given by Vahram Merangulyan, the former director of the company “AyYunNetvorks,” which provided software for the State Revenue Committee (SRC) during Khachatryan’s tenure as its president. According to the prosecution, the company is closely related to Gagik Khachatryan, and during his presidency, it provided maintenance services for electronic systems and supplementary tools for the SRC. “AyYunNetvorks” LLC was established in 2008. According to Merangulyan, 40% of its shares were owned by Alexander Yesayan, who was also one of the shareholders of “Ucom” company. The remaining shares were documented to belong to Aram Antonian. However, the prosecution claims that the actual owners of 60% of the company’s shares were Khachatryan's sons—Artyom and Gurgen Khachatryan—as well as Aram Khachatryan, who is Gagik Khachatryan’s cousin.

The SRC regularly signed contracts with this company for software implementation. The witness stated that he had only seen Gurgen, Artyom, and Aram Khachatryan during board meetings, which involved extensive discussions. During these meetings, he occasionally saw Alexander Yesayan's brother, Haik Yesayan, as well. He mentioned that he might have had one or two phone calls with Gurgen Khachatryan after board discussions, but he primarily worked with Alexander Yesayan.

In response to Prosecutor Gevorg Sargsyan's question about how the company's profits were distributed, the witness answered that he did not know, as he only signed documents already approved by the financial department as the company's director. When asked if Merangulyan had any knowledge of the fact that the Khachatryan sons also received shares from the company’s profit through Aram Antonian, the witness replied that he was not aware of such information. He also stated that their company was always seriously prepared when participating in SRC-announced tenders—sometimes for days, weeks, or even months, and that no one guaranteed them they would win.

Merangulyan also revealed that he personally did not know Gagik Khachatryan, having only seen him on television.

Also summoned to testify were Haik and Alexander Yesayan. However, they left Armenia two days ago. There are two other witnesses absent from the country as well. The court released their pre-trial testimonies, considering that sufficient measures had been taken to ensure their presence, but ultimately, it was not successful. Regarding the Yesayan brothers, the court will send them a notification once again, and if they do not appear, their testimonies will be published anew.

It is worth noting that the testimonies of the Yesayan brothers are crucial for the prosecution. Gagik Khachatryan responded to the absence of the witnesses, stating that he presented himself to the court with a 38-degree fever, while the witnesses failed to show up. “I personally have questions for them, with that determining whether this accusation is just or not,” said Gagik Khachatryan.

The next court session is scheduled for November 10.