Former Rector of Physical Culture Institute Bought Official Car from Friend Paying 2.4 Million Dram Extra

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" reports that according to its information, the former rector of theState Institute of Physical Culture and Sports of Armenia, David Khitaryan, during his tenure, purchased an official car and paid 2.4 million dram more than necessary for it. Khitaryan announced his intention to buy the car in a post on his Facebook page on October 20, 2022.

According to our information, the car was purchased for 23.9 million AMD from a private individual close to Khitaryan, while the same person had bought the car from a dealership for about 21.5 million AMD. The private individual from whom the car was purchased is a friend of the rector, Ararat Martirosyan. The vehicle is a 2021 model and was bought in 2021, although it is worth noting that during the same period, that same car, a Toyota Fortuner, could have been acquired from a dealership for approximately 21 million AMD.

Thus, the car bought from Ararat Martirosyan cost 2.4 million AMD more than a new one from the dealership, and the university paid this additional amount merely for the purchase from the rector's friend.

"Zhoghovurd" tried to get a comment from David Khitaryan, asking whether this incident constitutes a corruption scheme and why the university paid 2.4 million AMD more for his official car. He stated multiple times over the course of several days that he was busy with various events and could not respond to the questions. When we informed him in writing that we would publish the material without his comment if he did not respond, Khitaryan replied that he had addressed the issue several times and if there were a corruption risk, he would not have made a post about it on his Facebook page. In short, he does not accept the accusation.

For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.