ArmInfo.The criminal case against third president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and others is based solely on the testimony of the former Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan. This was stated by the defense of owner of Flash company Barsegh Beglaryan, who insisted that the allegations were therefore unfounded, since the prosecution relied solely on this evidence.
Serzh Sargsyan is accused of the fact that from April 9, 2008 to April 9, 2018, holding the presidency of the Republic of Armenia, using his official position, from January 25, 2013 to February 7 of the same year he organized the theft of 489.160.310 drams from groups of officials.
Thus, by a decision of January 24, 2013, the government approved a state program for the more affordable purchase of diesel fuel for spring agricultural work, under which it was envisaged to sell 17.041.300 liters of diesel fuel to land users on the basis of applications submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture. A number of companies, including MaxHur and Flash LLC, have expressed their willingness to deliver on the project. According to the investigation, after negotiations with MaxHur representatives, senior officials of the Armenian Ministry of Agriculture decided to submit to the government for approval the data of the above company as a fuel supplier in connection with the lowest price offered.
Serzh Sargsyan, aware of the availability of a cheaper supplier of diesel fuel under the program, realized that as a result of signing an agreement on subsidizing the price of diesel fuel with Flash Ltd, which offered comparatively higher prices than MaxHur, it would be unreasonable to charge large facilities. As a result, Sargsyan created more favorable conditions for Flash Ltd and instructed the government to sign a supply agreement with Flash Ltd. through a number of senior officials. As a result of this, according to the decision of the Armenian government of February 7, 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture allocated 1,789,336,500 drams for the supply of 17,041,300 liters of diesel fuel from the government reserve fund, and on February 21, 2013 the funds were transferred to the account of Flash Ltd.
Subsequently, the amount of fuel required by the decision of the government was brought up to 17,343,530 liters, and the amount provided amounted to 1,821,070,650 drams. In this connection, according to the contract of March 13, 2013, signed between the Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia and Flash Ltd, an additional 31 734 150 drams were transferred to the company's account on April 2 of the same year. As a result, during the implementation of the above program, between 12 February and 28 June 2013, 12 088 333 liters of diesel fuel were sold, and the amount of the subsidy amounted to 1 269 275 070 drams. However, in the case of fuel supplies at the prices proposed by MaxHur, the amount of the subsidy would have amounted to only 846 183 380 drams, that is, in fact 423 091 690 drams were wasted. By the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia dated August 29, 2013, the remaining unrealized 5,255,196 liters of fuel worth 551,795,580 drams were left at the disposal of Flash Ltd (Flash LLC) to implement a program to provide diesel fuel to land users at affordable prices for the implementation of autumn agricultural works.
Based on the aforementioned decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, on September 12, 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia and "Flash" LLC signed the "Subsidy Agreement", according to which the subsidy in the amount of 551,795,580 drams was reissued for diesel fuel in the amount of 6 131 062 liters. As a result, from September 12 to November 23, 2013, 3 303 431 liters of diesel fuel were sold, and the amount of the subsidy amounted to 297 308 790 drams. However, when providing services from the other company mentioned above, the amount of the subsidy would be only 231 240 170 drams, that is, 66 068 620 drams were actually wasted. As a result of the transaction organized by Sargsyan, 489.160.310 drams were stolen.