Prosecutor General of Armenia excludes possibility of problems with  special combat vehicles during April war because of low-quality  diesel fuel

ArmInfo.Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan excludes the possibility of problems with special combat vehicles and failures during the April war because of  low- quality diesel fuel. This was stated by the Prosecutor General  in response to the request of the Armenian service of Radio Liberty.

Commenting on the question whether the case in connection with the  disruptions in the work of military equipment during the four-day war  because of the low-quality diesel fuel was in the proceedings of the  Prosecutor General's Office, the supervisory authority replied: "In  April 2016, the father of the late deputy head of the N-th military  unit of the NKR Defense Army, Lieutenant Colonel Alexan Araqelyan,  Gevorg Araqelyan, told the media that during the April war, cases  were recorded when the tank was filled with water instead of fuel, as  well as cases of lack of a battery, because of which the relevant  military equipment did not arrive in time on the scene of  hostilities. The prepared materials on the case were not  substantiated, further - they were refuted, on the basis of which a  decision was made to refuse to open a criminal case".

To note, the Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan stated from  the rostrum of the parliament that because of the low-quality diesel  fuel, during the April war, in the zone of the Karabakh conflict,  there were problems with the operation of military equipment. In this  regard, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, said that if such  information exists, then an investigation should be conducted. "I do  not mind it, but I am sure that this could not be the case", Ohanyan  said. The current Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan tried to smear the  situation, saying that Prime Minister Karapetyan's statement was  taken out of context and misinterpreted. Despite Sargsyan's attempts  to "save the situation," Karapetyan did not give up his words, and  again stated in a conversation with journalists about the existence  of such a problem, while promising to correct it through total  control and consistent work.

After that the Prime Minister of Artsakh Ara Harutyunyan confirmed  the words of Karen Karapetyan.  According to the Artsakh Premier, for  many years the market of diesel fuel has low-quality products, which  are used for the exploitation of agricultural machinery, vehicles and  construction equipment. "As for the April events, both then and in  the following months, private construction companies working for the  Defense Army had many problems associated with low-quality fuel, as  the government in an accelerated order purchased it from private  suppliers", he stressed. According to Harutyunyan, there were  problems with the vehicles that serve the army, which, according to  experts, was because of poor-quality diesel fuel.  "Because of this  problem, not only the equipment came into disrepair, but engineering  work was also delayed. It should be understood that if there are  poor-quality products, especially in emergency situations and with  quick purchases, such problems are not ruled out", he resumed.

Subsequently, however, the words of the prime minister officially  denied the Ministry of Defense.  Meanwhile, Karapetyan somehow  smeared his statement about problems with diesel fuel during the war,  however, at the last meeting of the government, again stated the  availability of low-quality fuel in the Armenian market and it is  necessary to take appropriate measures against it.