The Prosecutor’s Office Rejects Criminal Case for Abuse of Power Against Kapan Mayor

The prosecution has rejected the initiation of a criminal case against me for abuse of power. This was announced by Kapan mayor Gevorg Parsyan on his Facebook page.

“On June 6, 2021, a video titled ‘From Your Pocket to the Pocket of the Kapan Mayor’s Father’ was published on the Armenian website ‘Civilnet,’ discussing potential corruption processes and conflicts of interest. Rumors began to circulate in the community that all construction work in Kapan is being carried out solely by ‘Norogshin’ LLC, and that this company is predominantly favored in the construction bids announced by the Kapan municipality, which is owned by Razmik Parsyan.

It should be noted that, according to the law on procurement and relevant government decisions, the purchases announced for the needs of the community are open electronic competitions, allowing any company to participate. However, during approximately 150 procurement procedures organized by the Kapan municipality in 2020, ‘Norogshin’ participated in only 6, and only one of these was for the supply of goods.

Based on the video, the police department of Kapan in Syunik province prepared materials at the request of the prosecutor's office to initiate a criminal case regarding the abuse of power. During the preparation of these materials, the investigative body discovered that, in addition to the works stipulated in the contract with ‘Norogshin’ LLC, several other construction projects have been carried out and are still ongoing in Kapan that are not included in the performance acts.

Additionally, it was revealed during the material preparation that several gratuitous donations were made by ‘Norogshin’ LLC and the Parsyan family for the benefit of the community, which we will have the opportunity to discuss later.

As a result of all these events, the criminal case initiated based on the materials prepared surrounding the video ‘Possible Corruption Processes and Conflict of Interest in Kapan’ was rejected by the Syunik province prosecutor's office on the grounds of the absence of a criminal offense.

Dear citizens, do not be misled by false, absurd, and empty rumors. Below is the decision of the rejection,” wrote the mayor of Kapan.