2020 June 5

Anti-Corruption Daily

Jun/5/2020 News: (1) Points-based traffic rules show results (2) Tushonka's wife charged (3) ex-IRS chief's son charged (4) Cops charged (5) COVID stats, rules, enforcement, patients at home, anti-body tests (6) Govt agencies return savings (7) Banking stability (8) Canada won't arm AZ (9) Lanzarote
by ar_david_hh

Disclaimer: All the accused are innocent until proven guilty by the court of law, even if they may sound as being guilty. Currency in Armenian Drams ֏ unless specified otherwise. Helpful overview of Armenia's media ownership and leanings.

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Manvel Tushonka's wife charged

Disgraced general Manvel Grigoryan's wife Nazik Amiryan, the 80% shareholder of HayByureghApaki company, which she received from govt in exchange for investments, is charged with 2 felony counts of embezzling ֏222mln and deliberately bankrupting the company.

Details of the story from Nov/8/2019: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/dto9rp/anticorruption_news_summary_nov82019_emigration/

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189594

two police bosses face charges

The SIS says two former Artashat police bosses, who served in 2016-2019, knowingly defrauded the state of ֏4mln by registering a fake employee and embezzling his salaries.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189551

reforms in IRS after chief's departure

Pashinyan had a teleconference call to "attend" a Parliamentary session. He said new reforms will be carried out in IRS, which were initiated by the now ex-chief Davit Ananyan who resigned yesterday.

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One of the IRS facilities allowed COVID rules to be violated. According to rumors, Pashinyan got mad and wanted the department head fired. IRS chief Ananyan didn't want to fire his colleague and chose to quit over the disagreement.

IRS didn't confirm specifics, only saying it was over "staff-related disagreement".

Deputy IRS chief Edward Hovhannisyan was appointed as the new chief.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189549

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189602

https://factor.am/257095.html

http://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/281746/

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30654481.html

Gloria factory cases spike

Emergency Team shut down Vanadzor's Gloria factory earlier this week for ignoring safety, and using overcrowded buses for employee transportation.

115 workers confirmed infected. There are 220 cases in the entire Lori province.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189548

COVID stats

+1702 tested. +596 infected. +45 healed. +8 deaths.

8052 active. 3513 healed. 183 deaths (includes deaths not directly from COVID).

100 cops infected.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189544

https://factor.am/256977.html

online flashmob

Pashinyan continued to share examples of good and bad safety practices, one of which showed a wedding ceremony in Ptghni fearing dancers dressed in police and NSS uniforms.

He removed two pictures of safety violations: one was taken pre-COVID, and the other showed a woman in the metro.

"The flash mob's purpose is to highlight the problem, and not to punish. Do not target individuals," repeated apologetic Pashinyan.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189545

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189577

https://factor.am/256961.html

school director warned and teacher fired...

... for organizing a school party without masks. The image was shared by Pashinyan on FB.

https://factor.am/257013.html

numerous food facilities shut down

Food facilities in and around Moskva cinema and Cascade were shut down for giving customers hookah and other violations.

The buffet in two government buildings was also closed after employees were caught without masks.

220 businesses were closed today.

https://factor.am/256839.html

https://factor.am/256707.html

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189600

police arrest a man

The police twisted a man's arms and took him to a police station after a confrontation that began after the man resisted the mask requirement rules.

The police chief described it as appropriate use of force and vowed to continue the practice "if necessary". Opposition parties criticized the harsh treatment.

Pashinyan: the police should apply legal force against those who show open contempt to the public safety rules and defy police demands.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189554

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189556

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189573

COVID response

Pashinyan: we're internally discussing a possible lockdown or curfew. But before we do it, we must be sure it'll actually solve the problem...

Requiring airport arrivals to prove they had tested negative prior to the flight won't solve the problem...

Visitors can be in the incubation phase and test negative erroneously...

The only way to defeat COVID is by adjusting personal attitudes towards safety. I believe the public can change its behavior because after all, that's how I became a PM in 2018...

Our healthcare system is doing miracles. Critical patients with chronic illnesses are healed. But we must make sure we don't go over its capacity. Secret wedding parties don't help...

Kindly inform your fellow citizen about the need to take safety seriously. We need a movement...

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Armenia Hospital official: we can defeat COVID in 3 weeks if we follow safety. If not, all the government's efforts will be futile... This is a real war. Let's unite and follow the safety rules ... It doesn't matter if the mask is "bothering" you.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189597

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189604

Monitoring COVID patients at home / Tele-Doc

This week the clinics began isolating <60yo asymptomatic COVID patients with no chronic illnesses in their homes, instead of hospitals.

The clinic calls twice a day to check for these symptoms: headaches, muscle pain, nasal congestion, lack of taste/smell, 38c temp, disorientation, bleeding, etc. If any of these exist, the patient is transported for examination.

The monitoring of the patient and his household members lasts 28 days. They can talk to the doctor with a video call.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189329

Armenian labs do antibody tests

EcoSense and Prom-Test private labs conduct anti-body tests to see if a person had been unknowingly infected with COVID19 in the past. They said the results are accurate but refused to share the accuracy %.

For the results to be accurate, the person has to be healthy for 2 weeks. That's when the detectable antibodies develop in the system.

EcoSense uses German-made Immunoglobin G (IgG) test kits for which they charge $30.

Prom-Test charges $40 for the German-made "EuroImmun" kits. They tested 60 people. 5% positive.

The test requires a passport, no food, drink, nasal drops, cigarettes 3 hours prior to test. Results ready in 2 days.

Healthcare Ministry doesn't have accuracy info on the private labs' kits. "These tests do not show an accurate picture of the overall infection in the country and herd immunity."

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189195

the man, the myth, the legend

Bill Gates: it's hard to refute the claims that I created the pandemic to use vaccines to plant microchips, because of how strange and absurd the claim is.

BrEAkiNG NeWs: Bill Gates refuses to deny the claims that he plans to microchip everyone through COVID.

http://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/281718/

apartment burglaries reduced

...by 176 incidents YoY while the clearance rate +5.3%, said the police chief while highlighting a recent push to focus on burglaries after a big spike in 2019.

"The numbers will decrease until another mass amnesty", joked Parliamentary Security committee chief while referring to the 2018 ministry. (Some % of pardoned felons ended up committing crimes again)

https://factor.am/256903.html

points-based traffic system results

Drivers have 9 points they can waste annually before having their licenses suspended. Police chief:

Between Jan-May 2020, 900 drivers had 129k points deducted. Yerevan saw the biggest impact. (Update: the deduction of points applies only to traffic rule breaches recorded by technical means)

YoY incidents reduced by 261 (1401), deaths by 20 (102), injuries by 317 (2100).

http://arka.am/en/news/society/credit_system_designed_for_armenian_motorists_produces_results_police_chief_says/

Dilijan National Park embezzlement bust

Investigators say a Dilijan resident bribed a forest guard to allow him to use a car to steal trees from the forest and got caught after returning for another trip on Monday.

A felony case is launched against both.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189587

where is the other fugitive prince?

ex-IRS boss Gagik Khachatryan's UCOM-owner son was charged with helping his father to launder money. He "escaped", despite being at the center of a felony investigation.

NSS chief Martirosyan says they weren't monitoring Khachatryan at the time of his escape because he wasn't officially charged at the time, but they always monitor the borders, and Khahcatryan hasn't crossed it, meaning he's hiding somewhere in Armenia.

NSS investigated rumors about Khachatryan, too, hiding in Russia and found the rumor to be false, said NSS chief.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189581

ex-IRS chief Khachatryan's other son is also charged

The second son Artyom is charged with 4 felony counts. He's wanted by the police with arrest warrant in-absentia.

The laundering felony investigation was launched on Feb/2/2019.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189595

Govt agencies return the savings

Various govt agencies saved cash during 2019 and returned it to budget:

Police 4.2bln, NSS 400mln, Emergency Ministry 481mln,

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1017551.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1017567.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1017567.html

Financial system stability

Central Bank chief Javadyan:

Banks saw deposit outflow after COVID, similar to 2008 and 2014. It then began to recover and is almost at the early-March level now.

We worked with the govt to inject 71bln into the economy, agriculture, small businesses, etc.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1017542.html

Lanzarote Convention

... was ratified by Parliament last month. It's about educating little kids to avoid becoming a sexual victim through grooming and coercion, without teaching what rape is.

Hardline traditionalist groups expressed concern over the education part and believe kids might be exposed to inappropriate sexual material.

Parliament decided to create a committee tasked with examining and addressing these concerns.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189540

Sardarapat region

... will get 10 anti-hail missile firing stations to cover 1,000 ha land for safe agriculture.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189529

Syrian Airlines returns to Armenia

...after 8 years. 150 passengers arrived with the A320 jet from Damascus.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2020/06/05/Syrian-Airlines/2304676

Canada won't arm Azerbaijan and Turkey

...for the second year in a row. The Armenian diaspora committee sent a note of gratitude.

Azeris are punished for buying Canadian weapons through a private contractor in 2017, while Turkey is sanctioned for its activities in Syria.

http://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/281744/

https://anccanada.org/canada-stops-military-exports-to-azerbaijan-and-bans-arms-sales-to-turkey/

Russia arrests businessman over AZ military deal

Russian authorities arrested a company director and 2 others. The director allegedly gave a 4.5mln Ruble bribe to a Russian ministry official so the latter would give him a license to export military jet technology to Azerbaijan.

https://razm.info/142787

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/gxb152/jun52020_news_1_pointsbased_traffic_rules_show/