Head of Armenia’s state water committee denies stealing $13 million
01.06.2018,
16:04
The head of Armenia’s State Water Committee Arsen Harutyunyan, who tendered a resignation application today, denied a report in the local ‘Zhamanak’ (Time) daily claiming that together with former prime minister Karen Karapetyan he stole $13 million.
YEREVAN, June 1. /ARKA/. The head of Armenia’s State Water Committee Arsen Harutyunyan, who tendered a resignation application today, denied a report in the local ‘Zhamanak’ (Time) daily claiming that together with former prime minister Karen Karapetyan he stole $13 million.
"In my department there is no corruption . Besides, I not only refute the report claiming that I stole a large sum of money, but I also demand that it apologize and publish a repudiation," Harutyunyan told journalists on Friday.
The daily Zhamanak quoted Arsen Harutyunyan as saying earlier this week in the Armenian parliament that since the beginning of the year the water level in Lake Sevan has risen by 30 cm. The newspaper writes that in fact the level of the lake, when compared with the same time span of last year, in fact decreased by 13 cm.
The daily claims that the water was in fact used to generate cheap electricity by the cascade of water power plants on the River of Hrazdan, which was then sold to Armenian consumers at a high price.
According to the daily, a drop of 1 cm in the water level in the lake costs about $1 million, thereby a drop of 13 centimeters translates into $13 million. It claims that the money was pocketed by Karen Karapetyan and Arsen Harutyunyan.
Harutyunyan also stated that he resigned because he can not work with the new government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. -0-
"In my department there is no corruption . Besides, I not only refute the report claiming that I stole a large sum of money, but I also demand that it apologize and publish a repudiation," Harutyunyan told journalists on Friday.
The daily Zhamanak quoted Arsen Harutyunyan as saying earlier this week in the Armenian parliament that since the beginning of the year the water level in Lake Sevan has risen by 30 cm. The newspaper writes that in fact the level of the lake, when compared with the same time span of last year, in fact decreased by 13 cm.
The daily claims that the water was in fact used to generate cheap electricity by the cascade of water power plants on the River of Hrazdan, which was then sold to Armenian consumers at a high price.
According to the daily, a drop of 1 cm in the water level in the lake costs about $1 million, thereby a drop of 13 centimeters translates into $13 million. It claims that the money was pocketed by Karen Karapetyan and Arsen Harutyunyan.
Harutyunyan also stated that he resigned because he can not work with the new government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. -0-
