Hakob Simidyan Given 7 Days to Comply

The newspaper "Joghourt" reports that Minister of Environment Hakob Simidyan is facing administrative proceedings for failing to present required information in the "Declaration of Assets, Income, and Interests of Declaring Officials for 2019." The proceedings began on March 1, 2021, related to the fact that Simidyan, while still a member of the National Assembly in 2019, did not include relevant data in his declaration.

Documents have been obtained from the Central Bank of Armenia and the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption regarding Simidyan's bank account balances. According to these documents, on January 1, 2019, his bank account balances totaled 488,806.5 AMD, while by December 31, 2019, this amount rose to 1,054,723.1 AMD.

On March 1, 2021, an administrative violation report concerning the violations was prepared in connection with Simidyan's case. He attempted to explain the reason for the concealment of his financial resources, stating that he had no intention of hiding his assets, and that due to negligence, he failed to mention the accumulated funds in his accounts. He also noted that these accounts were where his salary was deposited.

During the investigation, it was established that the incomplete information presented in Simidyan's 2019 annual declaration due to negligence constituted a violation according to Article 169.28, Part 5 of the Administrative Violations Code of the Republic of Armenia. Consequently, it was decided to impose an administrative fine of 200,000 AMD, which is double the minimum wage, for the negligence in presenting incomplete data in the declaration.

Simidyan has been given 7 days to make corrections in the appropriate section of the declaration.