The meeting of President Armen Sarkissian and Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel, who is on an official visit to Armenia, took place today at the residence of the President of the Republic, in which the delegations of both countries took part.

Welcoming Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German delegation, President Armen Sarkissian expressed confidence that this historic visit will open new horizons for the development of Armenian-German relations. This is Chancellor Merkel’s first official visit to Armenia, but she has been to our country before.

“I want to note with satisfaction that the relations between Armenia and Germany are based on mutual understanding and deep trust. Germany is a very important partner for Armenia, but our cooperation has the opportunity to expand much more in different areas. And, of course, I cannot but express my satisfaction for your country’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide and also for the political support we feel during our cooperation with the European Union, because Armenia-European Union relations are very important for us,” said President Sargsyan.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her satisfaction and gratitude for being hosted in Armenia. “Dear Mr. Sargsyan. I am glad to be hosted in your country and I am glad for our meeting. Last year, our countries celebrated the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and today we can already conclude that our relations are positive. I agree with you in the sense that our relations have unused potential, and it should be used both in the political and economic, as well as in the fields of scientific research and technology. We want to take part in the reforms announced by Armenia, we are carefully following the changes and processes that took place in your country in the spring. We are ready to continue cooperating on this perhaps difficult but important path.”

At the meeting, the interlocutors referred to Armenia-EU cooperation, as well as the opportunities to deepen bilateral relations in different cultural, educational and scientific directions.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel concluded the full day of her official visit with a walk in the center of Yerevan, accompanied by RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Armen Sargsyan.

The citizens of Yerevan and the guests of the capital were given the opportunity not only to greet the heads of the two states with applause, but also to take photos with them. Angela Merkel gladly allowed to take pictures with her, and in one case, the citizen was photographed with Merkel by the Prime Minister himself.

After a walk along Northern Avenue and a cafe, bidding farewell to Pashinyan, his wife and Armen Sarkissian, Angela Merkel expressed her satisfaction with a special gesture and description: “wonderful”.

In order to increase the water tariff, “Veolia water” bought air tickets for the president of the PSC and officials as a bribe, and transferred the hotel expenses. 

The message released by the police says:

“Based on the relevant data provided by the RA Prime Minister’s anti-corruption assistant, thanks to the operative-investigative measures taken by the officers of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Activities Department of the Main Department of Police, it was found that Gor Grigoryan, the operational director of Veolia Jur CJSC, Karo Ohanyan, the director of the “East” branch of the same company, and Aram Sahakyan, the director of the “West” branch, were former fellow students. and close friends, having the opportunity to possess and manage the organization’s tactics and financial resources, with the intention of embezzling money in 2017-2018. in the course of time, they organized the functions of “Veolia Water” CJSC to make purchases, as well as to provide construction works services, within the framework of which they signed contracts with “EMOSHIN”, “SHINMASTER”, “GAVAT”, “HORIZON”, “DEL-TELECOM” and other joint stock companies, founded in the name of their relatives and actually owned by them, at prices incomparably higher than the market rates, as well as the tariffs set in RA. Contracts worth 3,730,940,595 drams, within the framework of their implementation, they embezzled particularly large sums of money by making additions, creating false execution acts and committing other abuses.

In addition to this, it was also found out that the 2017-2018 adjustment of tariffs for services provided by “Veolia water” CJSC. in order to approve the application, before submitting it to the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission, the director of the same company Kristian Lefe and the operational director Gor Grigoryan, the chairman of the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission, with the intent to bribe Robert Nazaryan and for another 7 officials of the PSC from financial expenses of “Veolia water” CJSC on 26.08.2017. bought and issued 8 air tickets worth 4,239,235.8 drams in the Yerevan-Paris-Yerevan direction, and for the hotel expenses they transferred another 8,359,133 drams equivalent to 15,338.18 euros, which totaled 12,598,368 drams, after which the commission on 22.11.2017 according to the relevant decision, the price of drinking water was increased by 11,414 drams, from 180 drams to 191,414 drams, which is compensated by the RA government as a subsidy.

During the mentioned tour, the mentioned officials were accompanied by the general director of “Veolia water” CJSC Christian Lefe, his assistant-translator Arman Aloev and the administrative director of CJSC Marianna Shahinyan, for which 1,572,573 and 3,245,442 drams were spent for air tickets and hotel rents, respectively.

Regarding the incident, a criminal case was initiated under Article 312, Part 3, Clause 1 and Article 311, Part 4, Clause 2 of the RA Criminal Code, which was sent to the RA Special Investigation Service for preliminary investigation.

The police report that from now on, the cooperation between the RA Prime Minister’s anti-corruption assistant and the Department of Countering Crimes Against Corruption and Economic Activity of the RA Police Department of the RA Police will be continuous.