Nairi Hohikyan: 'I Wonder Why He Decided to Leave the Tasty and Greasy Position'

Journalist Nairi Hohikyan's Facebook post reads: “Recently, information was circulated in the media that the Director of the Road Department, a certain Gohar Avetisyan, has left his position by his own request. This is, of course, a piece of news about the dismissal of an ordinary mediocre official for many, but it's important to consider that this concerns road construction, which is a tasty and greasy piece for squandering the state budget.

There have been instances in the past where the state budget was embezzled in road construction. According to Russian practices, the thickness of the asphalt layer was often reduced compared to what was actually required, say from 5 cm to 3 cm. Over the course of several dozen kilometers, this results in enormous amounts of wasted funds.

Now, current embezzlers have chosen a more clever option. Perhaps they have been inspired by Western or Turkish practices. They maintain the thickness of the asphalt but reduce the width of the road budgeted for. For instance, instead of 6.5 meters, they make it 6 meters. Over several dozen kilometers, this leads to a greater waste of funds than before.

I suggest journalists investigate, for example, the budgets for the roads from Ltsen to Tatev or from Chambarak to Berd, and go on-site to take measurements. There will be interesting surprises.

And in this situation, I wonder, why did the Director of the Road Department suddenly decide to leave this tasty and greasy position? Perhaps he knows something about the upcoming developments that we do not. Maybe this official is planning to leave Armenia altogether in the coming days and settle comfortably in another country. Or perhaps Nikol and Alen have simply decided to use another person to siphon money from the state budget.”