ArmInfo. The Special Investigation Service has provided new details on the case involving former Mayor of Yerevan, former Head of the Commission on Regulation of Public Services Robert Nazaryan.
According to the SIS, Robert Nazaryan, as well as former members of the Commission, Shiraz Kirakosyan and Mushegh Koshetsyan, who were detained on the same day, were charged with committing socially dangerous acts envisaged by part 2 of Article 308 of the RA Criminal Code. According to the investigation, all of them, based on their personal interest in establishing benefits for individual business entities and group interests, during 2011 abused their official powers, which, through negligence, led to dire consequences. On suspicion of committing an act stipulated by the same article of the RA Criminal Code, former Deputy Chairman of the Commission Nikolay Grigoryan was also detained yesterday.
The investigator of the SIS submitted a petition to the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan to apply preventive measures in the form of arrest against Nazaryan, Kirakosyan and Koshetsyan. The investigation continues.
According to the investigation, Nazaryan, under the pretext of encouraging the development of hydropower in the Republic of Armenia, on September 16, 2011 received a government decision "On the proposal to establish maximum capacity for small hydroelectric power plants", actually adopted with the aim of establishing benefits for Dzoraget Hydro LLC, owned by the son-in-law of the ex-president RA Serzh Sargsyan to Mikael Minasyan. Nazaryan, without proper expert research and analysis of the proposed changes, ignoring the water resources available in the RA and, as a result, the statistics on the construction of hydroelectric power plants, through the competent department of the Commission, developed a draft corresponding decision. As a result, "Dzoraget Hydro" was registered in the list of small hydroelectric power plants, taking advantage of the opportunity to sell electricity at higher and more stable tariffs, and as a result received 7,052,065,099 drams from individuals and legal entities that consume electricity in Armenia.
It should be reminded that in the criminal case concerning the Dzoraget hydroelectric power plant ("Dzora HPP"), the accused is the former head of the RA Defense Ministry Seyran Ohanyan, who is suspected of embezzling property in the amount of 1,046,400,000 AMD. Last fall, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called on Mikael Minasyan to return to his homeland and answer questions from the Special Investigation Service. In particular, it was about the illegal, as the Prime Minister noted, privatization of a strategic facility in Lori region. According to media reports, this facility is the Dzoraget hydroelectric power station.