MP raises questions over ANIF case and Yerevan mayor's family wealth

During parliamentary debates on the Corruption Prevention Commission’s 2024 activity report on Thursday, opposition MP Anna Grigoryan criticized the lack of accountability in the case involving the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF).

 

Grigoryan recalled that ANIF had been established to attract international donors and investments to Armenia but ended up spending 25 billion drams from the state budget “with no results and no responsibility.”

 

According to her, only three people have been charged in connection with the case, two of whom are outside Armenia. One of them, the former ANIF director, is reportedly facing charges of crimes against humanity in Gaza. The charges relate to the alleged misuse of 1.5 billion drams transferred to an offshore company for a project that was never implemented.

 

“But what about the remaining 23.5 billion drams? Who misused that money and who will be held accountable?” Grigoryan asked.

 

She also pointed to Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan, who once chaired ANIF’s board. “He is not among the defendants and hasn’t even been questioned. Yet his family seems to have made remarkable gains,” she said, noting that Avinyan’s mother recently purchased a $490,000 house and his father acquired a $200,000 property in Sevan.

 

“How do such extraordinary successes suddenly happen in one family’s life?” Grigoryan added.