Public Television Refuses to Provide Copies of Contracts for Purchases Made with Loan Funds

The Public Television of Armenia has refused to provide Hetq with copies of the contracts for purchases made with loan funds obtained as a result of mortgaging the building of the television company's news service. As previously reported, the news service's separate building, which used to be known as 'Yerevan Studio,' was mortgaged at a bank in 2013, securing a loan of 1.8 billion AMD.

In response to our inquiries, the television company informed us that the funds were allocated for the acquisition of equipment, renovation of buildings, preparation of new programs, films, and more.

In a separate request, we asked the Public Television to provide copies of the state procurement contracts carried out within the framework of these expenditures. However, the television company stated that those contracts contain confidentiality provisions. The response letter indicated that all information related to the contract terms, value, actions arising from the contract, or negotiations pertaining to the contract between the parties is confidential and cannot be provided to any third party, except with the prior written consent of the other party or in cases stipulated by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

Furthermore, the television company deems that obtaining consent from partners is a time-consuming and impractical process. “In other words, to provide you with copies of the said contracts, the Television Company must first obtain written agreements from its partners, a process that is time-consuming and, for the above reasons, also impractical, as all information regarding the financial inflows and outflows of the Television Company is published in the form of the Television Company’s budget, as well as annual financial reports audited by tax inspections and external audits on its official website,” stated the response letter.