2024-02-09 13:48:16
31-year-old Ani Ispiryan, who was released yesterday from the position of Deputy Minister of Economy by the decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and was arrested today, was invited to Armenia in 2020 by the “iGorts” program of Diaspora Armenian specialists in the RA government. Before that, he lived in Moscow and worked as an expert in the Department of Foreign Relations and Protocol of the Russian Academy of National Economy and State Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, News.am wrote.
Before being appointed deputy minister in 2020-2021 Ispiryan was the expert of “iGorts” program. Within the framework of “iGorts”, Diaspora Armenian specialists are invited to work in the RA government and other departments at the state level.
According to News.am, Nikol Pashinyan himself was dissatisfied with the work of the deputy minister. In particular, in December 2023, when Pashinyan visited the Ministry of Economy to discuss the department’s activity report, Ani Ispiryan also made a report. The latter, however, could not answer the questions related to the spheres under his coordination, which upset Pashinyan. He noted that an “incompetent” person was appointed to such a responsible position and urged Minister Kerobyan to suggest that the deputy minister write an application for dismissal. However, taking into account the workload of the ministry and the need to ensure current performance, as well as the fact of not finding a suitable replacement, the government decided not to hurry.
However, the National Security Service reported to Pashinyan about Ispiryan’s participation in illegal transactions, after which a decision was made to fire him.
It is noteworthy that two weeks before the “unexpected” dismissal, this same deputy minister presented at the government meeting the controversial draft decision to donate 12.5 percent of the shares of “Lydian Armenia” to the RA government, which, according to experts, is full of vague wording, and the actual transaction, according to experts, it contains corruption risks.
Let’s remind that today, in response to the questions of journalists, the Minister of Economy, Vahan Kerobyan, said that Ani Ispiryan told him that her husband got a job in Holland, and they are going to move. And a few days before moving, he wrote an application for dismissal.