ArmInfo.In criminal cases investigated under the control of prosecutors of the regional divisions of the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Armenia, measures are continuing to comprehensively disclose corruption abuses recorded in the course of the activities of numerous water user companies operating in the republic.
In 2018 - 2019 During the investigation, a total of 13 criminal cases were initiated and are currently under investigation. These include Water Consumer Societies operating in Lori, Shirak, Kotayk, Armavir, Ararat, Aragatsotn, Gegharkunik regions, in particular: Ararat, Artashat, Talin, Aragatsotn, Kotayk, Lori , Martuni, Shenik, Yerevan, Echmiadzin and Armavir.
In particular, in some cases in 2016-2018. using their official position, persons holding OPV leadership positions violated the initial requirements of water supply services contracts concluded with subscribers without installing water meters, fixed the volumes of water supplied not by cubic meters, but based on hectares of land.
Because of this, subscribers actually lost the ability to control the volume of supplied irrigation water. In addition, additions were made, after which these data were recorded in electronic journals as data on the supplied water, services and total debts collected from subscribers, and the volumes of services provided were actually inflated.
In order to pay off debts of water users formed by such artificial methods and to recover losses resulting from hail in 2016 - 2017. The financial resources subsidized from the budget of the Republic of Armenia credited to the balance of companies were drawn up by accountants as repayment of debts accumulated in the name of subscribers.
In some cases, formal leases and the acquisition of various services were concluded, which were not provided in full or were not provided at all.
These schemes were applied in the conditions of inadequate fulfillment by the competent employees of the Water Committee of the MENR (Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources) of Armenia of their duties to control the illegal supply and use of water, their unfair attitude to the service. In the case of some OPVs, it was recorded that fake contracts were drawn up with citizens absent from Armenia, in which the latter were indicated as water users. And the amounts in especially large amounts, issued for actually not completed work, were assigned. According to preliminary estimates, due to these abuses, the damage caused to the state during the preliminary investigation amounted to about 5.7 billion drams.
In a criminal case initiated on the fact of appropriation of amounts in especially large amounts, forgery and use of documents by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, official negligence, which entailed serious consequences, according to which the preliminary calculated damage to the state exceeds 1 billion drams. The person holding the post of director of the Armavir OPV was indicted on an especially large scale misappropriation and embezzlement basis.
The progress and results of the preliminary investigation in criminal cases investigated under these crimes will be periodically reported.