The Corruption Prevention Commission (CPC) has fined Gagik Tsarukyan, the chairman of the “Prosperous Armenia” party, by a decision made on August 28.
According to Iravaban.net, after receiving a donation from “Yerevan Ararat Brandy, Wine, Vodka” OJSC, the party did not transfer it to the state budget within two weeks. The Commission sent a letter to the party requesting information on all bank accounts (except for pre-election funds), bank account statements of inflows and outflows, and several other contracts and documents within five days for the purpose of auditing the party’s 2022 annual report.
On March 22, 2024, the party submitted the requested information. At the same time, the party reported that there was no disagreement regarding the annual report’s audit conclusion, as well as the discrepancies and violations identified in the “Letter to Management” document.
It is noted that during 2022, the party received an in-kind donation from “Yerevan Ararat Brandy, Wine, Vodka” OJSC, which according to the party’s calculation amounted to 1,679,230 drams, but as a result of the recalculation made by the audit organization, it amounted to 792,786 drams.
The CPC’s inspection revealed that the annual report table included information about the transfer of industrial real estate located at an address belonging to “Yerevan Ararat Brandy, Wine, Vodka” OJSC to the party for free use, which is not permitted as a donation. The search also revealed that the cadastral value approximating the market value of the property is 14,763,359,807 drams, while the party stated its value as 14,777,703,882 drams, which exceeds the aforementioned value by 14,344,075 drams, which in turn can be the reason for the difference in the calculated non-monetary inflows presented.
According to the data presented in the party’s annual report, as well as bank account statements, there is no information about transferring the in-kind donation received from “Yerevan Ararat Brandy, Wine, Vodka” OJSC to the state budget within a two-week period after receiving it.
Due to the detection of the above-mentioned violation, on July 2, 2024, the Commission sent a notification to Gagik Tsarukyan about an apparent violation with the characteristics of the offense of not transferring donations exceeding the legally established limit or not permitted to the state budget or the donor within the legally established timeframes, inviting him to the Commission on July 9, 2024, at 14:30, to participate in drawing up an administrative offense report, and on July 16, 2024, at 15:30, to participate in the examination of the administrative offense case based on the report drawn up on the grounds of the apparent violation and relevant materials. Gagik Tsarukyan received the mentioned letter on July 8, 2024.
Tsarukyan, duly notified of the place and time of drawing up the administrative offense report, did not appear at the Commission, did not ensure the participation of his representative, and did not submit a request to postpone it before drawing up the administrative offense report.
On July 9, in the absence of the duly notified Gagik Tsarukyan, a report was drawn up with the characteristics of a violation of the code. Based on the petition submitted by Tsarukyan’s representative Smbat Minasyan to the Commission on July 16, the Commission postponed the scheduled case examination and set it for August 14 at 14:30, and notified the participant of the proceedings about the place and time of the administrative offense case examination.
Then, the case examination was postponed again for the same reason and set for August 28 at 15:00.
On August 28 at 15:00, an administrative offense case examination took place in the presence of Gagik Tsarukyan’s representative Smbat Minasyan.
Minasyan stated that the act of not transferring to the state budget within the legally established timeframes the impermissible in-kind donation of 792,786 drams to the party as a result of “Yerevan Ararat Brandy, Wine, Vodka” OJSC handing over space to the party for free use was committed due to lack of awareness. At the same time, he noted that later, from 2023, a real estate lease agreement was concluded.
The Commission studied the materials available in the case, the data presented in the party’s annual report, comparing them with the party’s bank account statements, and taking into account the apparent violations found in the Audit Conclusion, conducted a study of the circumstances, as a result of which it considers it confirmed.
Thus, during 2022, Gagik Tsarukyan, an official of the party, did not comply with the requirement, namely, the party did not transfer to the state budget within two weeks after receiving an impermissible donation from “Yerevan Ararat Brandy, Wine, Vodka” OJSC. The amount of the calculated (recalculated) in-kind donation was not transferred to the state budget by the party, which is certified by the data presented in the annual report and the party’s bank account statements.
In the table “2.5 Calculated inflows resulting from leasing or granting free use of real estate to the party at a price significantly lower than the market value” of the annual report, information was filled in about handing over industrial real estate belonging to “Yerevan Ararat Brandy, Wine, Vodka” OJSC to the Party for free use, which is not permitted as a donation.
According to the party’s charter, the party chairman manages the party’s property and funds.
The Commission decided to impose an administrative penalty on Gagik Tsarukyan for the party’s failure to transfer an amount equivalent to the donation not permitted by law to the state budget within the time limit prescribed by law, in the amount of one hundred times the established minimum wage – 100,000 drams.
In addition, an amount of 792,786 drams equivalent to the impermissible donation received by the party must be transferred to the state budget.
The decision enters into force on the day following its delivery (deemed delivered) to Gagik Tsarukyan in the prescribed manner.
The decision can be appealed.
Mariam Antonyan
