“For years the Ministry of Defense has legally provided the “Union of Yerkrapah Volunteers” with food, clothes and other items”, after the government session in an interview with journalists said Artsrun Hovhannisyan, Spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, referring to the discovery of the National Security Service in the summer house of the “Union of Yerkrapah Volunteers” Chairman, Manvel Grigoryan.
According to Mr. Hovhannisyan: “The items that are labeled “produced for the Armed Forces” were legally transferred to the “Union of Yerkrapah Volunteers” in two ways. The Union has been conducting active reserve army camps for more than twenty years, during which it applies to the Ministry of Defense and receives various types of supplies. Second, there were volunteer groups who were in Artsakh during the April war and were supplied by the Ministry of Defense, that is they received food, clothing, etc.”.
However, Artsrun Hovhannisyan cannot say in which way the discovered items shown in the video have been transferred. According to him, the investigation will show.
Mr. Hovhannisyan said that the Defense Ministry did not have any control over the items, including the ambulance, and food donated to the army during the April war.
In response to the question whether the army did not have the need of ambulance that is why the vehicle was also taken to Manvel Grigoryan’s auto park, Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that the army always needs that. Then Mr. Hovhannisyan added that it is not so that they do not have enough number of ambulance vehicles, but there is always the need of such.
As for a large number of weapons, Mr. Hovhannisyan said he is not eligible to answer the question as the investigation is underway. “But there were weapons, which could not be legitimate in any way”.
Lusine BUDAGHYAN
