Kerobian, who spent the night in custody, denied the accusations of abuse of power leveled against him and said he will appeal against the court’s decision when he spoke to journalists in the courtroom. He said he is not allowed to comment on details of the high-profile criminal case.
The accusations stem from a procurement tender organized by the Armenian Ministry of Economy last year. Another Armenian court invalidated in June the ministry’s decision to declare a major software company, Synergy International Systems, the winner of the tender. The decision followed a lawsuit filed by another bidder that set a much smaller price for its services.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee said late on Thursday that Kerobian and four other ministry officials rigged the tender in a bid to grant a $1 million procurement contract to Synergy “at any cost.” It said nothing about the reasons for the allegedly privileged treatment of the U.S.-registered company. None of the five indicted officials, including Kerobian’s former deputy Ani Ispirian, has been charged with bribery or embezzlement of public funds.
Armenia - Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian (left) and his deputy Ani Ispirian attend a news conference in Yerevan, January 8, 2024.
Kerobian openly defended his subordinates before resigning from his post on Wednesday. During a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian last week, he complained that the criminal proceedings have “paralyzed the work of the entire state system.”
Kerobian was formally relieved of his duties a few hours after announcing his resignation. In a statement, he said that he disagreed with Pashinian and wanted to step down on numerous occasions during his more than three-year tenure. He did not elaborate.
Kerobian on Friday confirmed media reports that the chief of Pashinian’s staff, Arayik Harutiunian, told him to resign shortly before he posted the statement on Facebook. He claimed that Harutiunian gave no reason for the recommendation.
“They were not happy with my work,” he said.
The ex-minister also said that he does not think the charges brought against him are politically motivated. Some Armenian commentators have suggested that Pashinian ordered this and a separate corruption probe involving another ministry official in hopes of boosting his falling approval ratings.
Kerobian, 47, was appointed as economy minister in November 2020 in the wake of Armenia’s disastrous war with Azerbaijan. He was until then the chief executive of a food delivery company which he had set up with his wife and a friend. He previously managed an Armenian supermarket chain that went bankrupt before being purchased and rebranded by other investors.