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The Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF), a state-owned enterprise, is all mixed up. The full responsibility for the elimination of the consequences of Tigran Avinyan's simultaneous holding of two positions has apparently been shifted onto the ANIF, Pastinfo reports, adding the government's actions “give every reason to suppose that the simultaneous appointment of Avinyan, Chairman of the ANIF Board of Directors, as Deputy Mayor of Yerevan is highly controversial.”

Under Clause 8 of Article 48 of the law on local self-government in Yerevan, a deputy mayor may not engage in entrepreneurial activities, hold any other position in state or local self-government bodies or commercial organizations or carry out other paid work, except for scientific, pedagogical and creative activity.

Whereas, the Armenian National Interests Fund is a state-owned enterprise which aims to “co-invest alongside top global investors and industrial partners in large-scale projects in Armenia.”

The fund was set up by the government in 2019, and Tigran Avinyan is the chairman of the ANIF Board of Directors, according to data on its official website. Moreover, he is vested with executive powers, since, according to the website data, the Board of Directors is in charge of the ANIF.

“On November 28, Pastinfo news website published an article entitled "Tigran Avinyan's tenure as deputy mayor is illegal: he holds two incompatible positions simultaneously", which revealed the incompatibility of the positions he holds. Incidentally, prior to the news release, Pastinfo tried to get an oral explanation from the ANIF about whether or not the members of the Board of Directors receive salaries, however the oral request was ignored. Later on November 25, we submitted a query to the ANIF to find out who sets the staffing table and salaries of the company, what legal or normative acts they refer to, whether the board director and its members receive fixed salaries, whether there is a salary waiver in the Board of Directors and whether the board director is planned to be replaced in the near future,” Pastinfo writes.

“Only after our report on November 29, the ANIF hastened to say that Avinyan does not receive any salary, without properly responding to our request. Later on November 30, we received a response from the ANIF saying the staffing table is determined by the decision of its Board of Directors.

"At the same time, it is worth noting that the organization does not set pay rates for its employees and members of the Board of Directors. We would also like to inform you that the chairman's possible replacement was not discussed at the last meeting of the Board of Directors," the ANIF said, leaving the other questions unanswered. The ANIF’s response makes it clear that Avinyan is not engaged in creative or advisory activities and the deputy Yerevan mayor runs another company," the report says.

Pastinfo submitted a similar query to the Ministry of Economy, at the same time requesting the government agency to provide a copy of the ANIF charter given the changes made in it by the ministry.

“However, the ministry, perhaps realizing the seriousness of the matter, refused to provide the charter and answer the question whether any of the board members gave away their salaries. The ministry only said that the ANIF was set up by a 2019 government decision, which is known to us all, and asked us to contact the government to get a copy of the charter,” the news outlet said, adding the latter, in turn, asked Pastinfo to contact the prime minister’s office. Pastinfo also submitted a query to the PM’s office, which forwarded it to the ANIF.

"The refusal to provide information leads to the conclusion that the government and the enterprise under its supervision really have something to hide and are trying to cover up corrupt practices through information blockade,” Pastinfo stated.

Incidentally, Varuzhan Hoktanyan, programs director at the Transparency International's Armenian affiliate, the Anti-Corruption Center (ACC), also sees corruption risks in Tigran Avinyan’s appointment as deputy mayor of Yerevan while heading the ANIF. He told Pastinfo that “corruption risks do exist, but what matters is whether or not they have evolved into a corruption offence.”

“Pastinfo is considering taking legal action to oblige the competent authorities to provide data which obviously does not amount to state secrets, including the charter, the staffing table, as well as the scope of functions of the Board of Directors members," it said.