240 Tablets Worth 286,000 Dram Purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for 393,000 Dram

In June 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs intended to procure 40 computer tablets for water patrols, setting a budgetary price of 15,760,000 Dram, or 394,000 Dram per unit, announced Karen Karapetyan, a member of the Audit Chamber, during a joint session of the NA Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs and Defense and Security Committees.

He stated that two companies participated in the auction: GGE Holding LLC and El Market LLC, with a minimum price set at 393,990 Dram, which is just 0.01 Dram less than the budgetary value.

“It has been confirmed that the same tablet is sold at wholesale by the connected platform of El Market LLC, Eldorado, for 286,900 Dram, which means a difference of 107,000 Dram less than what the police are paying,” Karapetyan added.

According to him, a difference of 4,280,000 Dram has been recorded among the 40 tablets, and additionally, mandatory parameters were established during the competition that are characteristic only of Samsung tablets, indicating a directional influence that is inconsistent with the procurement process.

“The same tablet was purchased from the same supplier at the same price in January 2023, with a total of 200 units at 393,990 Dram, leading to a difference of approximately 26 million Dram,” the Audit Chamber member noted, adding that the same tablet is being sold on Samsung's platform in Great Britain for 233,900 Dram, resulting in calculated additional expenses exceeding 30 million Dram.

A representative from the Ministry of Internal Affairs explained that the additional funds are for service costs, and that the tablets sold on the company's platform were only around 2-3 units and were sold at prices lower than the cost for promotional purposes.