YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — An association of Armenian tech companies has condemned law-enforcement authorities for arresting the founder of one of its leading members, saying that the criminal case against him is another serious blow to Armenia’s business reputation.
The Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) said over the weekend that foreign and local investors have started viewing Armenia as a “risky country” following a spate of “unfounded detentions.”
Ashot Hovanesyan, the owner of Synergy International Systems, was arrested last week along with two current and former employees of his software company as well as several Ministry of Economy officials as a result of a corruption investigation conducted by two law-enforcement agencies. Criminal charges brought against them stem from a procurement tender organized by the ministry and invalidated by an Armenian court last summer.
Synergy won the tender despite setting a much higher price for its services than another bidder. According to the Investigative Committee, the latter was illegally disqualified by the indicted officials, notably former Deputy Economy Minister Ani Ispiryan.
The officials have been charged with abuse of power, rather than bribery. It is not yet clear what exactly Hovanesyan and his two subordinates are accused of.
Synergy, which is registered in the United States but mainly operates from Armenia, on Monday, February 5, strongly denied the accusations and demanded Hovanesyan’s, senior company executive Lili Mkrian’s and her former colleague Ani Gevorgian’s immediate release from custody. It argued, in particular, that Synergy, which employs hundreds of software engineers, did not receive any government funds as a result of the invalidated tender.
