Finance Minister Addresses Interest-Free Loan Acquisition

I have no concerns because the facts announced by certain lawyers are taken from my declarations, meaning it is what I have declared. This was stated today, on May 2, by the Minister of Finance of Armenia, Vahe Hovhannisyan, during a press conference addressing claims by a group of lawyers that a criminal case could possibly be initiated against him, specifically regarding the receipt of a zero-interest loan and registering a property in his uncle's name, raising suspicion of potential involvement in corrupt transactions.

“The Anti-Corruption Commission is conducting or has conducted an investigation, and within the framework of that investigation, I was asked to provide specific clarifications. I provided everything possible, including statements from my accounts, what income I have had, and in what directions I made those expenditures, where the evidence of my declarations is actually visible. If there is any problematic issue here, I am confident that those problematic parts will receive answers. I have not been invited by any other body because as far as I understand, that court case was not against me, but against the prosecution, which has not initiated criminal proceedings, presumably also because there is nothing to initiate there,” the minister said.

Speaking about the acquisition of the interest-free loan, Vahe Hovhannisyan said, “The story is actually as follows: when in 2020, after the war, a group of friends and I decided that we wanted to establish a technological park that would enhance Armenia's armed capabilities by making various high-tech developments, we decided to set up such a thing. One of my friends, as his contribution to that process, invested that money into this endeavor, which was formalized as a debt, and it was decided that I would lead that company. That is the whole story. Then, when I took over the position of Deputy Minister of Finance in August 2021 and it became clear that I could no longer engage in that activity, I simply transferred that debt and that company to a third party. As far as I know, that company has already implemented the entire volume of that investment and is currently operating.

Regarding obtaining the exemption, to be honest, I was not even aware of that exemption story. That is, that company applied to the Ministry of Economy for an import exemption, just like many other companies, which is also stipulated by our regulations.