Tandilyan Inquires About Large Purchases from Tonoyan

Member of the National Assembly's 'Enlightened Armenia' faction Mane Tandilyan mentioned during a Q&A session with the government that she frequently reviews the government procurement list and regularly encounters concerning situations.

“The Ministry of Defense has purchased cement from 'Hydrogroup,' paying 48,000 drams. In the previous session, the Assembly had turned into a professional group on cement and clinker. We proposed regulations to keep the price as low as possible. You have made a purchase from this organization at an obviously inflated price; various government departments regularly make purchases and conduct construction work from this same organization. The organization has only two employees. You made a purchase worth 150 million drams in 2018-2019,” she stated.

Tandilyan inquired from Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan why such purchases were made and what the justification for these acquisitions was. Tonoyan responded that, if he had the opportunity to check, he would answer the question later, but if the purchases weren't from a single source and were conducted through a competitive process, he doesn't think there would be any issues in that case.

“Besides that, we are purchasing large quantities of cement throughout the year, so we have sufficient time for urgent procurement issues,” the minister added, while also noting that he needed time to verify the information provided. Nevertheless, the minister promised to respond by the end of the day.