Former Deputy Mayor Arrested for Payments Made to Sanitek for Unperformed Work

The Criminal Procedure initiated by the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Republic of Armenia has revealed sufficient evidence that former Deputy Mayor of Yerevan, V. N. (Vahe Nikoyan), misused his official position during his term, resulting in payments exceeding 3 billion AMD to Sanitek LLC and its affiliated companies for garbage collection and sanitation services that were never performed.

Specifically, it was discovered that V. N. served as the Deputy Mayor of Yerevan from January 20, 2012, to October 29, 2018, while simultaneously acting as the chair of the competition commission organized for procuring garbage collection and sanitation services. He evaluated the bids from participant companies as sufficient despite failing to meet qualification criteria.

Furthermore, he did not oversee the full scope and proper execution of the services under the contracts signed with the winning company, Sanitek LLC, and its affiliates, thereby approving the payment requests for the unperformed services. This negligence caused significant harm to the legal interests of the community of Yerevan and its residents, resulting in severe consequences.

The investigation also revealed that after signing contracts with the aforementioned companies in 2015 and 2016, rental agreements were made between Sanitek International LLC and V. N.'s father for three properties owned by the latter in Yerevan, which were leased for a monthly amount equivalent to 1,000-6,000 USD. Due to this circumstance, V. N. failed to fulfill his official duties and monitor the companies' work, influenced by personal financial interests and group interests.

As a result, there were insufficient vehicles and bins allocated for garbage collection and sanitation services, and the existing garbage collection vehicles operated overcapacity, leading to a decline in the quality of these services over time.

Despite the contracts with Yerevan Municipality and Sanitek LLC specifying the services to be provided, V. N. approved payments for services that were not actually rendered, resulting in a total unjustified payment of 3,002,486,270 AMD to these companies for unperformed services.

Taking into account the evidence of the crime, the investigator of the Anti-Corruption Committee filed a motion with the supervising prosecutor on December 6, 2022, to initiate public criminal prosecution against V. N. under Article 308 (Abuse of Official Powers) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia as it stood at the time of the act. This motion was granted, and a decision was made by the investigator to arrest V. N. for the purpose of presenting him in court as a measure of restraint. The pre-trial investigation continues.

Notice: A person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedural law established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, and by a legally binding court verdict.