"Zhoghovurd" daily writes: "The information recorded in one of the gift registration forms published by the RA Corruption Prevention Commission has raised new questions about the transparency of relations between state officials and big business. According to the document studied by the daily newspaper "Zhoghovurd", a gift with an estimated value of 567 thousand 463 drams was declared in the name of the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia, a private plane flight to London.
According to the statement, the gift was provided by "Ameriabank" CJSC as part of an event organized on the occasion of the bank's inclusion in the leading index of the London Stock Exchange. Although the document states that the visit was of an official and working nature, the published data, at the same time, raises a number of uncomfortable questions. First, why should Vahe Hovhannisyan, the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia, receive a private flight service from a private company? If the event was truly of state significance and the minister's participation was due to official duties, then it would be logical that the travel expenses would be paid from the state budget or through other official procedures, rather than presented as a "gift".
A gift for what? Second, no matter how much the value stated in the declaration is 567 thousand drams, it is hard to imagine that the real market value of a private flight to London is limited to that amount. This also needs further clarification on the methodology used to calculate the cost and whether it reflects the actual costs.
Thirdly, we are talking about a financial structure that operates in the financial system of Armenia and is always in the domain of working relations with state bodies. In such circumstances, even a legally formulated gift can raise public suspicions about conflicts of interest, influence or privileged relationships. The most important question, however, is on the political and moral level. Should Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan, who holds a high public position, accept services of this nature from the private sector, even if they are properly declared later? The fight against corruption is not just about filling out declarations.
It is also a matter of maintaining public trust. When citizens see that ministers travel on private planes to foreign events at the expense of business, the question naturally arises: where does official cooperation end and where does the risk of influence begin? However, the declaration itself does not eliminate public interest and the need to get complete answers about the conditions under which the flight was organized, why the private aviation option was chosen, and whether the state could not cover the expenses of the official visit with its own funds. The public is waiting not only for the facts to be recorded, but also for their full explanation.
And until then, the flight to London on a private plane labeled as a "gift" remains a story full of questions.
