David Stepanyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The Department of State Interest Protection of the General Prosecution Service sent four analyses of the report of the Control Chamber for 2012 to the Head Investigative Department of the Armenian police. The analyses concerned the Center of Educational Programs, the Transport Program Realization Office, the Water Service Program Realization Office, and the Realization Office of the Program of Reconstruction of the Arpa-Sevan Tunnel. All these programs are being directly or indirectly implemented by the government, while heads of ministries have already reported to the government on the problems. The head of the Control Chamber (CC) Ishkhan Zakaryan presented the report on state budget expenses in 2012 and emphasized that in many spheres the situation remained unchanged; he highlighted outrageous cases of corruption in the spheres of state construction and state purchases. Zakaryan stated that 70%, or 701 billion drams, stayed in the risk zone.
The report by Zakaryan to parliament became a swipe at the government of Tigran Sarkisyan, who simultaneously demanded that the law-enforcement agencies investigate all the facts represented by the CC and expressed dissatisfaction with the “CC’s excess of jurisdiction and its political assessment.” The speaker of the parliament Ovik Abramyan expressed his dissatisfaction as well, but not with Zakaryan, but the prime minister for allowing such corruption. After this he suggested sending all elicited abuses to the General Prosecution Service. Abramyan also demanded that the premier to dismiss “all those who rob and gobble the state budget.”
However, considering two opposite reactions of heads of the executive and legislative branches of power, there are doubts about the independent and objective behaviour of the CC, which is an instrument of political groups inside the power. As the opposition is actually isolated from real political processes, the motivation of the head of the CC should be found within the fight inside the ruling elite. And Zakaryan, the denouncer and fighter against corruption, provokes questions himself: in 9 months he built a cottage costing several million dollars. As for Abramyan, in 20 years of state service he purchased thousands of hectares of gardens and vineyards in the Ararat Region, refinery enterprises, and major financial assets. Tigran Sarkisyan is also a well-known wealthy person, but the prime minister prefers to store his property in Spain. It is logical to remember “the offshore scandal” involving the prime minister.
Recently the mass media raised the question of untargeted usage of $2 million allocated by the government to conduct the Shanghai-2012 exhibition by the Armenian embassy in China, which is headed by the prime minister's brother.
Thus, despite the fact that the republicans state that there are no contradictions within the RPA, the internal party mudslinging war continues, presenting new instances of stealing budget resources. The sides are headed by the prime minister and the parliamentary speaker. Those around the former president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan competes with them as well.
The attitude of President Serge Sargsyan seems to be ambiguous. The president called Zarakyan “to work in such a way that all departments feel the attention of the CC and would be sure of punishment for mistakes and crimes,” while criticising him “for excess of jurisdiction.” During the session of the Executive Board of the RPA, the president expressed dissatisfaction at the fact that top representatives of the ruling party openly criticize each other.
