ArmInfo
Head of the Bio-Resources Agency of the Ecology Ministry of Armenia Artashes Ziroyan may be summoned to court.
In Aug 2010 the prosecutor's office brought several criminal actions against the companies having won the tender for the right to clean up the area around Lake Sevan. Particularly, the mass media blamed Wide
Gate and G.Eloyan and Sons for sinking dozens of hectares of green areas as a result of their clean up activities. Despite such negative reports, the work of those companies was accepted by the National Park of Sevan and the Ecology Ministry.
The press service of the police reports that the finance and ecology ministries have organized complex inspections. As a result, G.Eloyan and Sons is charged with misappropriation of property, Wide Gate - with negligence and abuse of office.
According to official information, there are no defendants at the moment. However, according to the unofficial data, Artashes Ziroyan is also involved in the criminal case, but it is not known yet what status he has in the case. The publication in Hayatsk newspaper says that it is Ziroyan that accepted the acts on the clearing work in Lake Sevan.
To note, it is not the first time the Armenian Ministry of Nature of Protection finds itself in the focus of law-enforcers' attention. In December 2009 a real corruption scandal took place at the ministry, when Head and Deputy Head of the Environmental Inspectorate Tigran Grigoryan and Arsen Petrosyan were detained for taking a bribe worth 5 mln AMD. They were sentenced for 7- and 10 year-imprisonment respectively.
September 28, 2010