Re: Who owns what in Armenia
RFE/RL Armenia Report - 05/20/2013
Tax Chief Cleared Over Business Ownership
Armenia - Gagik Khachatrian, head of the State Revenue Committee, at a
news conference in Yerevan, 20Feb2013.
Sargis Harutyunyan
20.05.2013
Gagik Khachatrian, the controversial chief of Armenia's tax and
customs services, has not abused his position to enrich himself or his
relatives, according to a state anti-graft body that has investigated
corruption allegations leveled against him.
The state Commission on the Ethics of High-Ranking Officials launched
the inquiry last month in response to a petition from the
Anti-Corruption Center (ACC), the Armenian branch of the Berlin-based
watchdog Transparency International. The ACC in turn cited an article
published in the pro-opposition daily `Haykakan Zhamanak' last
October.
The article contained a long list of companies which it said are owned
by Khachatrian. Among them are a major Internet and cable TV service
provider, two food-importing companies, one supermarket, a car
dealership and a luxury watch store in Yerevan. According to `Haykakan
Zhamanak,' the head of the State Revenue (SRC) also controls a company
that has a legal monopoly on supplying paper for cash registers used
by thousands of businesses.
In its written findings made available to RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am) over the weekend, the commission said Khachatrian does
not formally own any of those firms. But it said that two of those
entities -- the Mitsubishi car dealership and the Apeyron
food-importing company -- belong to his children, while four others
are controlled by his cousins.
The commission, which is located at the presidential administration
building in Yerevan, insisted that this fact does not amount to a
conflict of interest. It said that Khachatrian has made no decisions
in his capacity as SRC head that have benefited the businesses
registered in his children's names.
Speaking to RFE/RL's Armenian service, Sona Ayvazian, the ACC's deputy
director, dismissed this conclusion as `dubious.' Ayvazian said the
commission failed to thoroughly investigate activities of the firms
owned by Khachatrian's relatives. In particular, she said, the state
body should have scrutinized the amount of taxes paid by them to see
whether they might have enjoyed privileged treatment.
The SRC denied Khachatrian's involvement in business earlier in
April. Khachatrian, for his part, claimed afterwards that the declared
corruption inquiry is the result of a long-running smear campaign
targeting him.
Opposition-linked and independent media outlets have for years
portrayed Khachatrian as one of the country's richest men.
In an annual report released in March, Armenia's state human rights
defender, Karen Andreasian, said that owning businesses is the norm
among tax and customs officials. The report said some of the companies
belonging to them or their cronies enjoy privileged treatment by the
tax authorities, undermining their competitors. The SRC denied that,
saying that the ombudsman failed to come up with any concrete
examples.
RFE/RL Armenia Report - 05/20/2013
Tax Chief Cleared Over Business Ownership
Armenia - Gagik Khachatrian, head of the State Revenue Committee, at a
news conference in Yerevan, 20Feb2013.
Sargis Harutyunyan
20.05.2013
Gagik Khachatrian, the controversial chief of Armenia's tax and
customs services, has not abused his position to enrich himself or his
relatives, according to a state anti-graft body that has investigated
corruption allegations leveled against him.
The state Commission on the Ethics of High-Ranking Officials launched
the inquiry last month in response to a petition from the
Anti-Corruption Center (ACC), the Armenian branch of the Berlin-based
watchdog Transparency International. The ACC in turn cited an article
published in the pro-opposition daily `Haykakan Zhamanak' last
October.
The article contained a long list of companies which it said are owned
by Khachatrian. Among them are a major Internet and cable TV service
provider, two food-importing companies, one supermarket, a car
dealership and a luxury watch store in Yerevan. According to `Haykakan
Zhamanak,' the head of the State Revenue (SRC) also controls a company
that has a legal monopoly on supplying paper for cash registers used
by thousands of businesses.
In its written findings made available to RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am) over the weekend, the commission said Khachatrian does
not formally own any of those firms. But it said that two of those
entities -- the Mitsubishi car dealership and the Apeyron
food-importing company -- belong to his children, while four others
are controlled by his cousins.
The commission, which is located at the presidential administration
building in Yerevan, insisted that this fact does not amount to a
conflict of interest. It said that Khachatrian has made no decisions
in his capacity as SRC head that have benefited the businesses
registered in his children's names.
Speaking to RFE/RL's Armenian service, Sona Ayvazian, the ACC's deputy
director, dismissed this conclusion as `dubious.' Ayvazian said the
commission failed to thoroughly investigate activities of the firms
owned by Khachatrian's relatives. In particular, she said, the state
body should have scrutinized the amount of taxes paid by them to see
whether they might have enjoyed privileged treatment.
The SRC denied Khachatrian's involvement in business earlier in
April. Khachatrian, for his part, claimed afterwards that the declared
corruption inquiry is the result of a long-running smear campaign
targeting him.
Opposition-linked and independent media outlets have for years
portrayed Khachatrian as one of the country's richest men.
In an annual report released in March, Armenia's state human rights
defender, Karen Andreasian, said that owning businesses is the norm
among tax and customs officials. The report said some of the companies
belonging to them or their cronies enjoy privileged treatment by the
tax authorities, undermining their competitors. The SRC denied that,
saying that the ombudsman failed to come up with any concrete
examples.
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