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On April 29, 2020 different media outlets reported that a plane had been detained in Russia, which was trying to smuggle a large number of cigarettes from Armenia.
The members of the “Adequate” initiative, without mentioning any facts, stated that Hrachya Hakobyan, the brother-in-law of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a member of the “My Step” faction of the National Assembly, is behind the export of about 40 tons of smuggled cigarettes.
Allegations about Hrachya Hakobyan’s involvement in this case immediately appeared in the press.
Sputnik Armenia, referring to the rumours circulating on social networks, mentioned Hrachya Hakobyan’s involvement in this case, while Pastinfo website published the statement of Marina Khachatryan, a former member of the Yerevan Council of Elders, that according to the rumours hanging in the air, Hakobyan is cooperating with an organization engaged in smuggling.
Within a few days, however, it turned out that not Hrachya Hakobyan, but some representatives of the previous government were connected with the tobacco-producing and exporting company.
The reaction of the Armenian side
Boylernaya channel on Telegram was the first to report the arrest of the plane loaded with cigarettes. According to the source, the batch weighing 40 tons was detained near Krasnodar; it was smuggled and carried the Armenian stamp on it.
The fake invoices were confiscated. The cargo was to be transported to Afghanistan. The State Revenue Committee issued a statement on the incident, stating that an electronic declaration of goods had been filled out at the State Revenue Committee, and there were accompanying documents available, which were also available to the Russian customs authorities.
The State Revenue Committee reported that the cigarettes are of Armenian origin,
customs regulations and control have been in accordance with the RA law, and the RA customs authorities have no authority over the activities related to them in the territory of another country, therefore, they cannot bear responsibility for them.
Hrachya Hakobyan, in his turn, denied the rumours circulating about him, referring to them as lies.
Who produced and exported the cigarettes?
The company producing and exporting the cigarettes confiscated in Russia is “Armenian Tobacco Company” LLC.
In a conversation with Newarmenia.am, the company’s representative confirmed that they had sent the batch to Afghanistan, expressing suspicion that their competitor organizations were trying to create an obstacle for them with these actions.
The director of the company Armen Unanyan ruled out that there could have been cigarettes with Armenian stamps in the batch.
Armenian Tobacco Company was founded in 2017. According to the official website, more than $ 15 million was invested in the company. “Armenian Tobacco Company” owns “Zenon” and “Magnus” brands.
According to the electronic register of legal entities, the company has 3 shareholders: Lilit Abrahamyan, Arsen Harutyunyan and Vardan Harutyunyan. The latter two were high-ranking officials in the past. Arsen Harutyunyan has a 33.33% share in Armenia Tobacco Company. Harutyunyan is from close circle of former Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. After the latter became prime minister, Harutyunyan was appointed chairman of the State Water Committee. He remained in that position for two years and after the 2018 Velvet Revolution, he was relieved of his post by Nikol Pashinyan’s decree.
Vardan Harutyunyan is also within the close circle of Karen Karapetyan, and after the latter became prime minister, Harutyunyan became the chairman of the State Revenue Committee, while before that he was the general director of “Gazprom Armenia”.
After the revolution, he was also relieved of the post. Harutyunyan holds 33.34% of shares in the tobacco company.
The third partner of the Harutyunyans is Lilit Abrahamyan with a share of 33.33%. The latter is the daughter of Nikolay Gabrielyan, who was the general director of Gazprom Armenia’s Transgaz subsidiary. In July 2018, it became known that Gabrielyan had committed suicide.
As mentioned above, the general director of “Armenian Tobacco Company” is Armen Unanyan. The latter’s name appeared in the press in May 2018, when the RA NSS revealed a criminal scheme. According to the NSS, a large customs clearance company, Norfolk Consulting, avoided paying large taxes and duties. The director of the company was Armen Unanyan, who admitted his guilt and promised to restore the damage of $ 7 million caused to the budget. In fact, Armenian Tobacco Company admits that the cigarette confiscated in Russia belongs to it, whereas it also denies that it has reached there through smuggling.
As for the connection of Hrachya Hakobyan with this incident, there are no people in the Armenian Tobacco Company who are interconnected with the deputy, and he, in his turn, has nothing to do with the transportation of the cigarettes.
Ani Grigoryan
