Air Armenia case is not closed: Prosecutor`s Office filed charges of  embezzlement

ArmInfo.The Prosecutor's Office has charge former  General Director of Air Armenia A. Avetisyan. It should be noted that  the company went bankrupt in 2015.According to the press service of  the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia, Avetisyan was charged  with non-payment of state duty and misappropriation of these amounts  in the amount of more than 681 million drams.

Meanwhile, back in 2019, as a result of a trial in a court of first  instance, the head of the company was fully acquitted due to the lack  of corpus delicti. The court found that Avetisyan have not embezzled  funds, and was not involved in criminal acts. Meanwhile, the appeal  filed against this decision by the prosecutor's office was rejected  by the Court of Appeal, which upheld the verdict of the court of  first instance. The Court of Appeal, in turn, found that financial  transactions are connected with a civil law dispute, failure to  fulfill property obligations cannot be the basis for the application  of a criminal procedural order.

This decision was appealed by the Deputy Prosecutor General of the  Republic of Armenia. By the decision of April 8 this year, it was  fully satisfied. Having examined the case in the light of the  previous legal positions on the crime of embezzlement, the Cassation  Court of Armenia agreed with all the main grounds for the complaint  of the Prosecutor's Office. The Court of Cassation considered that  the fact that the airline was in a difficult financial situation and  the failure to fulfill obligations to the state, as established by  the prosecutor's office, could not be grounds for excluding the  presence of signs of theft in the act of the defendant. The case was  sent to court for a new trial.

In 2014 Air Armenia submitted an application to receive the status of  the national air carrier of Armenia after the bankruptcy of Armavia.  Air Armenia began to carry out air transportation in the fall of  2013, but a year later it stopped making regular flights, having  accumulated large debts. Earlier it was reported that Air Armenia  received $68.6 million from the East Prospect Faund investment fund  in exchange for a 49% stake in the airline. However, these funds did  not save the company. According to the company, it became a victim of  the "open skies" regime signed by Armenia and failed to become  competitive in the environment of large, including Russian, air  carriers. The state did not interfere in the process.

After the bankruptcy, a liquidation commission was created in the  company. A schedule for covering financial obligations was approved,  but so far many creditors and counterparties have not received their  funds.