Economy Minister says investigation unlikely to reveal any violations in activities of detained deputy minister

YEREVAN, February 1. /ARKA/. Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan expressed confidence today that the investigation will not reveal any violations in the activities of one of his deputies detained Wednesday.
The ministry confirmed Wednesday that Deputy Minister Ani Ispirayn, 32, was brought in for questioning from her office on the morning of January 31, a day after she was fired by Prime Minister Pashinyan.
"The last time there was such a case in the Ministry of Economy was 3 years ago. After 3 years, there is no court decision against the people who were detained then," Kerobyan said.
According to the Investigative Committee, Economy Ministry six officials created conditions for illegally removing a private entity from an announced tender for the creation of a bank for public investment projects .so that it would be won by another bidder who offered 392 million drams (about $1 million), three times the price offered by the disqualified competitor.
Speaking to reporters today, Kerobyan said that the statement of the Investigative Committee regarding former Deputy Minister Ani Ispiryan does not mention misappropriation and motivated decision-making, as well as embezzlement of budget funds.
"The tender processes were held under the control of lawyers and the Ministry of Finance. We are more than confident that no violations of the law related to procurement or related processes will be revealed by the court or investigation," Kerobyan said.
The Investigative Committee also stated that another ministry official detained in another criminal case unreasonably facilitated the transfer of 238 million drams to the accounts of farmers involved in the creation of intensive orchards, who did not provide relevant documents and embezzled the funds. According to the IC, the detained official was in close relations with these persons. -0-