ArmInfo. The RA Investigative Committee has uncovered many episodes of official and economic crimes in several areas of unprecedented criminal proceedings under the North-South project.
As stated in the official report of the Investigative Committee, a criminal investigation was instituted against 29 persons, of which 4 are current and former officials, and the remainder are heads and employees of organizations involved in the program.
The damage caused to the state as a result of abuses, in particular tax evasion on an especially large scale, money laundering, false entrepreneurship, preparation of false accounting documents by contractors and subcontractors, is estimated at 4,211,416,057 drams.
In particular, it is reported that an agreement was reached between the Chinese contractor LLC Sinohidro Corporation and the subcontractors STONES LLC, the actual head of which is the head of the Multi Group concern S.A. in order to reduce tax liabilities, a fake agreement was concluded on the provision of services, payment documents and the legalization of property obtained by criminal means as part of the construction of sections of the Talin-Lanzhik and Lanzhik-Gyumri roads. It was revealed that the director of the Multi Group concern, which actually manages the activities of STONES LLC in the implementation of a previously developed criminal scheme involving two employees of the company, founded two companies (LLC) for money laundering, not aiming to carry out entrepreneurial activities.
In total, the evidence obtained in sufficient quantities was charged with tax evasion on an especially large scale, false entrepreneurship and money laundering to the head of STONES LLC, four employees involved in this case, three employees of a Chinese contractor company In relation to S.A. according to the court's decision, arrest was chosen as a measure of restraint and according to the same decision it was replaced by an alternative preventive measure - a pledge. According to the source, 1 billion drams were transferred from the representative of the director of the Multi Group concern to the deposit account of the Investigative Committee as a guarantee of compensation for damage. The investigation is ongoing.
To recall, the construction of the entire 556-kilometer North-South highway, which stretches from Bavra (the Armenian-Georgian border) to Meghri (the Armenian-Iranian border), is estimated at more than $ 2 billion. The construction of the corridor was originally planned to be completed in 2019, however now the deadlines are postponed for another 7-10 years. Under the North-South program, the Armenian government calculated the preliminary savings of $ 2.5 per hour for each passenger and $ 1 per hour per ton of cargo. As the Armenian authorities expect, the program will allow the country to mitigate the consequences of the blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey in the future, play the role of a transit state in the cargo transportation of the countries of the region, as well as join the Black Sea ring highway.
