Yerevan Mayor accuses former minister Kerobyan of telling a lie

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YEREVAN, 24 July. /ARKA/. Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan accused today former Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan of lying, when claiming that he failed to provide a report on the activities of the Armenian National Interest Fund (ANIF) when serving as Chairman of its Board.br/pp ‘For some reason, when people who once held high positions are deprived of them, they turn out to be the ‘flagships’ of truth; they always fought for the truth while everyone else was bad,’ Avinyan said at a press conference on Wednesday./pp

He recalled that as chairman of the board of the ANIF, he did not receive a salary./pp

The ANIF was established in 2019 by the government of Armenia to attract foreign investment. In 2021, it struck a deal with UAE-based Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, also known as Masdar, which pledged to build Armenia's first large-scale solar power plant./pp

Our neighbouring countries, taking an example from us, are implementing similar projects with this company. Time will put everything in its place, we will find out who was right and who was guilty, whether there were abuses or not on this or that issue. We should not underestimate the importance of such projects and hold discussions on such ‘everyday’ issues without a deep understanding of the prospects of these projects,’ Avinyan said.nbsp;nbsp;/pp

Avinyan emphasised that passengers who have used Fly Arna services know about their high quality./pp

ANIF together with Air Arabia, the Middle East's largest budget airline, established the Fly Arna venture, which was declared by the government to be the ‘national carrier in 2022’./pp

The airline stopped flying in January this year and had its operating licence revoked two months later. It has been in liquidation since then./pp

According to media reports. Air Arabia, based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), is preparing an arbitration claim against the Armenian government./pp 'The only thing I regret in the history of Fly Arna is that the reforms were not carried out in time,’ Avinian noted./pp

The Armenian government liquidated ANIF on 23 May 2024. By the government's decision, the authority to manage the 100 per cent state stake in ANIF was transferred to the State Property Management Committee of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.-0-/p