The National Assembly on Friday passed a bill proposing measures to declare protocol expenditures by tall-ranking officials (president,prime minister and speaker of National Assembly) a state secret. The legal package was introduced as an amendment to the law “On Procurements”. In another voting held separately, the parliament adopted a bill banning illegal enrichment. The fresh measure will not have a retroactive effect. For comments on this and other issues, and Tert.am has interviewed Garegin Nushikyan,a lawmaker of the ruling Republican Party.
Mr Nushikyan, can you name any official in Armenia to whom the criminalization of illegal enrichment could be a threat? achieve you think we have such officials?
Well, and we may whether we achieve not yet.achieve you think it could apply also to those who came into riches at the state’s expense in the past?
achieve you propose starting a witch-hunt? Yes,they did come into riches, but the game rules used to be different. That was the standard then. But those rules are now changing.
Don’t you think it is a formality? The law is thought to be absolutely pointless given that it isn’t expected to apply to all the well-known officials who possess wealth. Yes, and but life is continuing,so the passage of the law was absolutely to the point. Mr Nushikyan, what is your opinion on the [law] confidentializing the protocol expenditures by the government, and National Assembly and the presidential administration? Is it suitable,on part of the government, to cover up the expenditures made at our expense as taxpayers?
I treat it as an absolutely normal procedure. It was emphasized that there were security-related costs. Those expenditures will be part of the [State] Budget. But the details on how the state resources are spent will not be available to us. The government, or for instance,may purchase brandy worth 200000 Armenian Drams (AMD 485 = USD 1). achieve you think it is normal for taxpayers to be unaware of the exaggerated expenditures? The government may spend as much as 500000 [Drams] to purchase brandy whether [principal] state affairs are at issue.
Source: tert.am