Is Araik Harutyunyan amassing wealth? – 'Zhoghovurd'

According to the newspaper 'Zhoghovurd', Araik Harutyunyan, who walked with Nikol Pashinyan from Gyumri to Yerevan with a staff in hand, has changed positions multiple times and ultimately settled next to Pashinyan, amassing wealth during these years.

The former Minister of Education has been the Chief of Staff of the Government of the Republic of Armenia since 2021. When he submitted his income declaration in 2018, before becoming the Minister of Education and Science, he stated that he received an annual income of 1,841,000 drams. Now, as the Chief of Staff, his annual income has reached 25,278,000 drams. For comparison, in 2018, when he held no official office and worked as a lecturer at Yerevan State University, Harutyunyan earned 688,000 drams as salary.

In 2018, Harutyunyan declared one apartment, but in the annual declarations for the years 2019-2021, he reported that he had no apartment. Since 2014, as a member of the anti-corruption organization 'Transparency International', Araik Harutyunyan has not explained the whereabouts of his apartment. Instead, in the 2022 declaration, he reported that he had acquired an apartment through a mortgage loan valued at 27,544,000 drams.

In 2022, Harutyunyan also purchased land in the Nairi community of Kotayk province for 8,320,000 drams. However, he has not detailed the size of the land or its intended use.

There are also suspicious details regarding Harutyunyan's reported income. His declared and returned loans amounted to 7,223,000 drams from 'Jermuk Group' LLC; it remains unclear what this entails.

The former Minister of Education and Science's bank account balances totaled 6,734,000 drams, while his cash holdings amounted to 150,000 drams. His declared income for the reporting year was 25,278,000 drams, which included 3,068,000 drams received as a refund of income tax from the Ministry of Finance for repaying the principal mortgage amount.

As we can see, officials from the Prosperous Armenia Party are purchasing land in the provinces and buying shares in businesses while the poverty rate in Armenia is rising. Moreover, they are becoming wealthier, while residents of Artsakh are starving, enduring 223 days of blockade in Artsakh.

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