Stay Away from the 'My Step' Foundation, Anna Hakobyan

Recently, I had some time and went over the media monitoring regarding the 'My Step' Foundation and my activities. And what a surprise. It turns out that after the topic of my connection with the '88' supermarket chain was closed, a scandal has now arisen around the 'Red Store' chain. And who is the ideal person around whom this scandal should revolve? Of course, it’s 'Anna Hakobyan'.

Anna Hakobyan wrote about this: 'Why? Because the owner of this store spoke at the initiative of the 'Education is Fashion' movement for the beneficiaries of the 'My Step' Foundation who are taking their first steps in business. During the speech, this young man, of course, said nothing about bypassing laws, shadow turnover, underreporting, or other 'benefits' of conducting business under a different name, and numerous other machinations.

He spoke with great enthusiasm about doing business in post-revolutionary Armenia and the opportunities to increase income several times, something that was impossible in pre-revolutionary Armenia. In short, it was a normal speech.

But it turns out that this young man also suffers from the malady of 'saying one thing and doing another' and will have legal problems starting in 2024 because he has concealed the true scale of his economic activities and so on.

Then there was the well-known government meeting, stores were closed, then reopened, and once again, I was attributed roles in these processes simply because the person in question spoke for our beneficiaries, or the mentioned company made a donation to the 'My Step' Foundation. On this occasion, I want to make it clear once and for all that we do not have the tools to verify whether a given business has legal problems or not, and only then accept a donation from it. (In the same spirit, I believe the prime minister's office also did not conduct an investigation into the legal relations of this store before purchases are made).

In post-revolutionary Armenia, honesty is still not fashionable nor contagious, and even less a style of life and work. Nevertheless, I appeal to the entrepreneurs in Armenia who work dishonestly and have legal issues: stay away from the 'My Step' Foundation, do not make donations to our programs. Even if you receive a similar request from me, remember that I do not know that you are working dishonestly; I cannot predict what fresh 'trap' you have set to unleash a new scandal around me. But you know that you have legal problems; you are dishonest and untrustworthy, so please do me a favor—reject us.

'Dear beneficiaries of the 'My Step' Foundation, who are taking your first steps in the business field with our support, this is not a speech, and I am certainly not a speaker, but one thing I know for sure—just like in life, in business, the most valuable stock is honesty. It is honesty that will bring you victories, and conversely, dishonesty will defeat you, inevitably defeating you one day.'