ArmInfo. The scandal between the former Minister of Culture of Armenia Armen Amiryan and the director Hovhannes Galstyan continues to gain momentum.
To recall, last week the Investigative Committee announced the institution of a criminal case on the facts of theft in especially large amounts and abuse of power. The case was sent to the prosecutor with a request for further referral to the Special Investigative Committee. According to the Investigative Committee, in 2017, under the pretext of paying the expenses for the participation of the Armenian delegation at the Cannes Film Festival, the then Minister of Culture of Armenia Armen Amiryan demanded and received 6.8 million drams from Hovhannes Galstyan. This amount was originally envisaged for the filming of the film "My Grandma's Curls", and as a result, this project was on the verge of failure.
Galstyan himself repeatedly noted that he trusted Amiryan and provided this amount to ensure the worthy participation of the Armenian delegation in Cannes. The minister, according to him, took the money on condition that they would be returned as soon as possible, but he did not keep his promise. The director tried to solve this issue through various authorities, but in the end he was forced to take out a loan for the implementation of the project "My Grandma's Curls".
Meanwhile, Amiryan, who, according to some data, after his resignation has left for the USA, made a statement on his Facebook of his appeal to the court with a lawsuit against Galstyan. According to him, over the past two weeks an obvious lie was voiced against him, in connection with which he demands from the director a refutation of slander and an apology for the voiced insults. According to Amiryan, Galstyan submitted to him in 2017 a program for Armenia's participation in the Cannes Film Festival, but the expenses exceeded the amount provided by the budget of the Ministry of Culture, in connection with which the director promised to add the missing funds by attracting sponsorship. According to Amiryan, he approved this program, however, after the delegation returned from Cannes, the director informed him that the sponsor partially refused his obligations. <I told him that we will discuss the issue and be sure to find a solution, although I had no obligations. After a short time, I resigned>, - said the ex-minister.
To recall, Armen Amiryan served as Minister of Culture of Armenia from September 2016 to May 2018. Hovhannes Galstyan received international recognition for the film "Woven Parallels", which was awarded a number of awards at film festivals around the world. In addition, he signed the first international distribution agreement in the history of Armenia with INSOMNIA World Sales (France).