A group of lawyers demanded the probe late last year after scrutinizing Hovannisian’s asset declarations and other financial documents. According to them, the minister used the loan in 2021 to buy a construction materials company which he then supposedly sold to his uncle.
In 2023, the company secured a tax break from the Armenian government to import items worth 1.8 billion drams ($4.5 million). The lawyers have suggested that Hovannisian may have abused his position to benefit the company that may still be controlled by him. An Armenian Finance Ministry spokeswoman has rejected the corruption suspicions, saying that Hovannisian obtained the loan before joining the ministry in 2021.
Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) refused in late December to open a criminal case demanded by the lawyers. A court of first instance upheld that decision earlier this year. But the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeals overturned the ruling last week, ordering the ACC to launch a formal investigation to determine whether Hovannisian engaged in any corrupt practices.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor-General told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday that the law-enforcement agency will file an appeal against that decision in the higher Court of Cassation. The official did not comment further.
A member of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, Hovannisian served as deputy finance minister before being promoted to his current position in late 2022. He previously worked for the Manila-based Asian Development Bank.
Before the complaints lodged by the lawyers, the minister reportedly failed to declare the interest-free loan to an anti-corruption body scrutinizing the assets of senior Armenian officials. He acknowledged “several typos” in his income declarations but denied misleading the body.