Tuesday, April 28 2020 16:01

ArmInfo.Gurgen Khachatryan, co-founder of Galaxy Group, chairman of the board of directors at Ucom, issued a statement today accusing senior officials of trying to  force the owners to alienate the company. ArmInfo presents the main  points of the letter without changing its style.

 The letter, in  particular, reads that < lately, at the level of senior officials of  the country, directly and indirectly (including during meetings) I  was demanded to alienate Ucom based on an unfavorable offer,  accompanied by public pressure. In addition to this, the demand for  the alienation of the leading Armenian IT company IUnetworks was also  placed on. Unlawful seizure of all property, including shares of  companies, has become part of a chain of illegal actions. Threats  were also voiced to create an uncontrolled situation in companies, as  a result of which, they said, we would have to agree to a sale, and  even at the lowest price>.

He also noted that high level officials <in the event of our  disagreement clearly stated that in the short term they would accuse  me of committing a particularly serious crime and arrest me. Similar  actions will also be applied to my brother, other family members,  relatives, and other close associates>.  The statement also reads  that "since the legal instruments for protection within the country  have been exhausted, we are forced to make this process public and  turn to international structures. Based on the circumstances, today  we only announce one incident, but you should know that the legal and  moral boundaries have been crossed, all this has been recorded and we  will publish all this in the future>.  Ucom owners called on  ambassadors conducting diplomatic missions in the Republic of  Armenia, local and international business associations, ombudsman and  human rights organizations to monitor this process and share their  assessments. <We demand an immediate cessation of lawlessness and  inform that we will not allow the pressure, provocation and illegal  use of certain state levers to affect us. I am sure that we rely on  law and morality, and we will not allow the 12-year-old institutional  structure, with its social capital and human fates to be turned into  a bargaining chip even under the most serious pressure. Ucom is not  for sale, and our dignity is not in doubt>.  The authors of the  letter recall that the Galaxy Group of Companies (which includes  Ucom) was founded in 1999 by Gurgen, Artyom and Aram Khachatryans.  <Over the 20 years of its activity, the Group of Companies was able  to become one of the best employers in Armenia, with about 3,000  highly paid employees. The activities of the group of companies also  make a significant contribution to the country's GDP, and the average  monthly salary of employees in 2018 amounted to 315,000 AMD, in 2019  reaching 370,000 AMD. Galaxy Group of Companies through its services  is included in every third household in Armenia.  In addition, Galaxy  is one of the largest taxpayers in Armenia, with annual tax payments  of 13-15 billion AMD>.

It should be noted that the ultimate beneficiary of Ucom is the  family of the former super-minister - Minister of Finance and State  Revenues Gagik Khachatryan. Today, Gagik Khachatryan himself, as well  as his sons and nephew (owners of Galaxy) are accused of embezzlement  on an especially large scale and abuse of official powers.  Gagik  Khachatryan has been charged under part 2 of article 308 of the RA  Criminal Code (misappropriation or embezzlement of funds on an  especially large scale) and part 2 of article 308 of the RA Criminal  Code (abuse of official authority entailing grave consequences  through negligence). Being a government official all his life,  Khachatryan became one of the richest people in the country. Ucom  enjoyed enormous informal privileges before the Velvet Revolution  and, for all these years, despite operating profit, worked with huge  balance sheet losses and, as a result, did not pay income taxes.   Last month, a conflict broke out between the main owners of Ucom and  its creators, the Yesayan brothers, who owned a 5.94% stake in the  company. Yesayans offered majorities 34 billion AMD for the full  package of the company, but the latter refused the deal. It is not  clear whether this proposal was in favor of specific individuals,  about which Khachatryans write in their statement without giving   names.

It should be noted that at the beginning of the year, the start of  consideration of the transaction on the purchase of another major  telecommunications operator of the country <Beeline - Armenia>, owned  by the VEON group of companies, was announced. Ucom claims to be the  buyer. The application is under consideration by the antitrust  authority of Armenia. It is possible that the current situation  around Ucom is underlying in the context of this announced deal. But  at the same time, according to ArmInfo experts, the current situation  should be considered in the context of the fight against corruption  and the return of colossal funds plundered by the former elite of  Armenia, the obvious and one of the main representatives of which is  Gagik Khachatryan.  As one would expect, the head of the press  service of the Prime Minister of Armenia Mane Gevorgyan reacted to  the accusatory statement of Ucom leaders in the person of  Khachatryans. According to the statement, according to the data of  the Government of Armenia, the former Chairman of the State Revenue  Committee of the Republic of Armenia Gagik Khachatryan and his sons  led the corrupt mafia system operating in Armenia for many years, as  a result of which they accumulated illegal funds of several hundred   million dollars.  

Gevorgyan notes that the family of Gagik Khachatryan, in the course  of contacts with various officials of Armenia and on its own  initiative, expressed readiness to return the loot and to restore the  damage caused to the state. This, she said, was done in response to  the prime minister's remarks that the looted by corrupt officials,  including the former head of the SRC, should be returned to the state  and people to the last penny.

<As for UCOM, the alienation of its shares under the legislation of  the Republic of Armenia is possible only with the consent of the  Government of the Republic of Armenia.  After a dispute arose between  the shareholders of the company and the issue of changing the  composition of shareholders appeared on the agenda, the position of  the government was that the sale of shares of Khachatryans would be  possible only if the entire amount received for this sale was  transferred to the state budget Armenia. This approach is relevant  today, and applies to any property of illegal origin. 

According to the position of the Prime Minister, if it turns out that  some officials tried to get personal benefits from this process, they  will have to answer before the law in the same way as representatives  of the mafia system of Khachatryans. The Prime Minister several  times, including publicly, expressed dissatisfaction with the fact  that criminal cases involving well-known corrupt officials do not  have the expected public effectiveness. The Prime Minister patiently  expects quick and concrete results from the law enforcement system of   Armenia.  The government has information that the son-in- law of the  former president of the RA Serzh Sargsyan, Mikael Minasyan, also has  a share in UCOM, and he is the de jure owner of part of the shares of  Khachatryans. The Prime Minister expects that law enforcement  agencies will properly study the corruption system led by Serzh  Sargsyan's family, which also resulted in the acquisition of shares  in various successful companies, " Gevorgyan said.   To recall, the son-in-law of former President of Armenia Serzh  Sargsyan - Mikael Minasyan, who previously held the post of Armenian  Ambassador to the Vatican, was brought in as a defendant in a  criminal case on illicit enrichment, money laundering and the  inclusion of false data in the income statement.