Investigation Concludes for Officials Accused of Bribery in the Veterinary Inspectorate

The preliminary investigation of a criminal case initiated by operational-search measures taken by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has established that R. H., the director of a company, allegedly provided a bribe of 250,000 AMD to A. M., the head of the regional center of the Food Safety Inspectorate in Armavir, to unlawfully dispose of expired chicken eggs contrary to the procedures established by the government of Armenia.

It was determined during the investigation that due to problems with the transport of a batch of chicken eggs intended for export to Russia, the shelf life of the eggs had expired, and they were returned to Armenia for destruction. However, instead of destroying the expired batch, R. H. disposed of a smaller quantity of even older eggs.

Subsequently, on November 22, 2022, G. P., a senior specialist-inspector at the Armavir regional center of the Food Safety Inspectorate, drafted a report claiming that an entire batch of 302,000 expired eggs had been destroyed, which he confirmed with his signature. In return for this report, and on the instigation of A. M., R. H. provided one box of eggs as a bribe.

Afterward, A. M. introduced a falsified act concerning the destruction of hazardous products into official circulation, sending it to the Food Safety Inspectorate of Armenia. Due to the violations in the destruction process, part of the expired eggs was effectively put on the market in Armenia.

On December 26, 2022, A. M., two other officials from the Food Safety Inspectorate, and R. H. were arrested by an investigator from the Anti-Corruption Committee.

A. M. has been charged under the Criminal Code of Armenia, with articles related to bribery and corruption, while G. P. and R. H. face similar charges. R. H. has been remanded in custody, while G. P. has had measures imposed to prohibit his departure from Armenia and suspend his official duties. The preliminary investigation has been concluded for all three defendants, with the case materials submitted for indictment and subsequently sent to the court.