Former Minister of Culture sues director Hovhannes Galstyan

ArmInfo. The scandal between the  former Minister of Culture of Armenia Armen Amiryan and the director  Hovhannes Galstyan continues to gain momentum.

To recall, last week the Investigative Committee announced the  institution of a criminal case on the facts of theft in especially  large amounts and abuse of power. The case was sent to the prosecutor  with a request for further referral to the Special Investigative  Committee. According to the Investigative Committee, in 2017, under  the pretext of paying the expenses for the participation of the  Armenian delegation at the Cannes Film Festival, the then Minister of  Culture of Armenia Armen Amiryan demanded and received 6.8 million  drams from Hovhannes Galstyan. This amount was originally envisaged  for the filming of the film "My Grandma's Curls", and as a result,  this project was on the verge of failure.

Galstyan himself repeatedly noted that he trusted Amiryan and  provided this amount to ensure the worthy participation of the  Armenian delegation in Cannes. The minister, according to him, took  the money on condition that they would be returned as soon as  possible, but he did not keep his promise. The director tried to  solve this issue through various authorities, but in the end he was  forced to take out a loan for the implementation of the project "My  Grandma's Curls".

Meanwhile, Amiryan, who, according to some data, after his  resignation has left for the USA, made a statement on his Facebook of  his appeal to the court with a lawsuit against Galstyan. According to  him, over the past two weeks an obvious lie was voiced against him,  in connection with which he demands from the director a refutation of  slander and an apology for the voiced insults. According to Amiryan,  Galstyan submitted to him in 2017 a program for Armenia's  participation in the Cannes Film Festival, but the expenses exceeded  the amount provided by the budget of the Ministry of Culture, in  connection with which the director promised to add the missing funds  by attracting sponsorship. According to Amiryan, he approved this  program, however, after the delegation returned from Cannes, the  director informed him that the sponsor partially refused his  obligations. <I told him that we will discuss the issue and be sure  to find a solution, although I had no obligations. After a short  time, I resigned>, - said the ex-minister.

To recall, Armen Amiryan served as Minister of Culture of Armenia  from September 2016 to May 2018.  Hovhannes Galstyan received  international recognition for the film "Woven Parallels", which was  awarded a number of awards at film festivals around the world. In  addition, he signed the first international distribution agreement in  the history of Armenia with INSOMNIA World Sales (France).