Business in the offshore zone

David Stepanyan, Yerevan, exclusively to VK


In Armenia, another scandal has broken out, apparently not increasing the rating of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia. After a series of high-profile revelations of illegal activities of senior officials abusing their official position and, as a rule, members of the party of power, the turn came of the unsinkable Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan ...

Within just one day the media were full of articles reporting on the company WLISPERA HOLDINGS LIMITED registered in the name of the Prime Minister in the offshore zone. In this regard, it should be recalled that Sarkisian, at least in words, is a staunch advocate of separation of business from government, the fight against the shadow economy and corruption. However, according to investigative journalism by the website hetq.am, the Prime Minister (by the way, along with the leader of the Ararat Diocese Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan and businessman Ashot Sukiasyan) is one of the shareholders of an offshore company registered in Cyprus.

However, the Prime Minister, speaking to MPs in the parliament, did his best to dispel this information, stating that the latter has nothing to do with reality. Sargsyan said that the specifics of offshore legislation allow almost any person to register a company under any name without asking the permission of the latter and generally without his knowledge. He also stated categorically that any offshore companies are not registered, and no one has such powers. The prime minister expressed confidence that such false accusations were used by his many enemies "as the ideal method of discrediting", which does not bother him, as these are not the first and not the last charges against him.

According to some rumors in the corridors of power, as there is no smoke without fire, even in 2010, Ashot Sukiasyan, under the project of turning Armenia into one of the world's centers for diamond cutting and polishing, obtained from the "Ameria" bank a loan of $10.7 million under the mediation of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan and Archbishop Kchoyan. A pledge for a loan became the property of Pailak Hayrapetyan at a total cost of $33 million; however, it has been found in Armenia, Sukiasyan has not fulfilled a single obligation under the business program, which, however, for some reason did not prevent the "Ameria" bank regularly continuing to transfer millions to the bank accounts of the Cypriot offshore entity, one of which, of course, was the joint brainchild of the Prime Minister, the Archbishop and the unfortunate businessman.

Amazingly, the commercial bank for some reason not only did not control the use of funds, but did not stop an allocation of 6 tranches, even after Sukiasyan had not fulfilled a single undertaking on them. However, many things are becoming clear, given that it was Ashot Sukiasyan who was a generous donor to his godfather, Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, giving him, to put it mildly, a not very cheap Bentley Continental. The latter, in turn, is known to be a great friend of the Prime Minister. It should be noted that, due to his "successful" business, Sukiasyan before this transaction owed millions not only in Armenia, but also in Russia and even in Africa, and then, taking the family, fled to an unknown destination.

Based on the statements by Pailak Hayrapetyan, you can come to the conclusion that it happened and was made possible with the help and the patronage of the Prime Minister, the former Minister of Economy and the Archbishop of Ararat. However, Kchoyan, of course, described the publication of these intriguing data as "false and untrue."

However, this did not prevent the police from initiating on the basis of testimony by Pailak Hayrapetyan in this regard a criminal case, in which, however, to this day no one has somehow put forward a single charge. The Prime Minister appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office with a requirement to "give a legal assessment of this publication and to punish those responsible." And the editor of hetq.am said that he has all the necessary documents proving the facts mentioned in the publication, including the offshore company registration in the name of Tigran Sarkisyan.

Thus, so far no significant reaction to the published facts has followed from the Prosecutor General's Office, from the investigating authorities, from the police or from the presidential administration. Meanwhile, in any other normal country, the fact of the publication of such facts would attract the attention of at least all of the above authorities, and at best would lead to the resignation of the government.

It is clear that the government is clearly not interested "in the slaughter" of Sarkisian and therefore makes every effort to help the Prosecutor General's Office in its efforts to "achieve justice." This is confirmed by the stubborn silence of information and propaganda machine controlled by the Republicans.

Finally, we turn to the main question - in whose interests could the media display information which impacts on the second person in the state? Indirectly, this question could be answered by patronage exercised by the U.S. Embassy in Armenia to the resources of hetq.am engaged in investigative journalism. However, given that the presence of Prime Minister Sargsyan of Armenia in a chair not just pleases but is visibly supported by the U.S., this information leak is unlikely to be carried out by the States.

In turn, Moscow, if desired, could probably find more loyal and reliable sources of leaking than a pro-Western resource. Thus, most of all, Sarkisian has become a "victim" of squabbles and intrigues within the Republican Party, not pleasing someone from the members of the "Politburo." Given that the activities of the "top" are not accountable to the public and are not focused on solving the problems of the citizens but on protecting its own or group interests, this is the most likely scenario.