Civilnet
By Alexander Pracht
Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan has reimbursed approximately $19,000 to the municipal budget, his spokesperson Hayk Kostanyan reported today. The reimbursement comes after controversy surrounding Avinyan's November business trip to Los Angeles, where taxpayer funds were used to purchase an expensive flight. Municipal regulations require a competitive bidding process for such procurement contracts, which was not followed in this case.
Back in November, the Yerevan Municipality signed an agreement with a private contractor to purchase nine airplane tickets from Yerevan to Los Angeles, with a stopover in Doha, Qatar, worth approximately $31,700, including a single business class ticket for Avinyan worth roughly $19,000, Armenian media outlet Factor reported in its investigation. The municipality used a one-source procurement procedure, meaning no competition was involved.
Avinyan claimed three weeks ago that he was unaware of the expenditures and vowed to reimburse the budget with his own money.
While many agreed that as mayor he could fly business class for official trips, the investigation sparked public outrage over the ticket's exorbitant price and the lack of competition in the procurement process, raising concerns about possible corruption.
Meanwhile, Avinyan announced last month that his family had filed a lawsuit against CivilNet, dismissing the findings of a separate investigation published with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). This investigation details how a company belonging to Avinyan’s family indirectly benefited from a state agricultural program he oversaw as deputy prime minister.
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