No transparency in official procurements accounts - GRECO

ArmInfo.  The Council of Europe Anti-Corruption Body (GRECO) in its annual report pointed out the lack of transparency in the procurement processes carried out by  high- ranking government officials in Armenia. Non-partisan member of  the National Assembly of Armenia Taguhi Tovmasyan wrote about this on  her Facebook page.

The MP drew attention to the fact that she received more than two  dozen documents related to the procurement organized by the National  Assembly from various sources, but not from the official website of  the parliament. In this regard, she recalled that the Secretary  General of the Parliament's Staff David Arakelyan, who is a close  friend of the Speaker of the Parliament Alen Simonyan, spends funds  from the state budget without proper public reporting, without  specifying for what needs and what purchases the expenses are being  made.

In addition, the MP cited data showing that in January, May, August  and September 2024, the National Assembly purchased 908 bottles of  cognac of various types. "The proud taxpayers of Armenia paid 16  million 635 thousand drams for this. For what reason were the cognacs  purchased, to whom were they gifted, who decided how much should be  purchased - there is no transparency in this part. Moreover, all  purchases were made from the company Vino Vino LLC," Tovmasyan wrote.

The MP also provided information on purchases from January to April  2025, noting that during this period, 594 bottles of cognac were  purchased for 11 million drams. At the same time, Tovmasyan reminded  that the year is not over yet and this may not be the last data that  she will be able to collect. It should be noted that this is not the  first time that Taguhi Tovmasyan has raised the issue of purchases  made by the National Assembly of Armenia. During parliamentary  sessions, she regularly draws attention to the lack of reporting on  purchases. Thus, at one of the sessions, she recalled purchases from  Mankan LLC, wondering what exactly the parliament could buy in a  children's store.