YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Bidzina Ivanishvili is The Civilitas Foundation founder, former FM, and Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) MP Vartan Oskanian, Ruling Republican Party’s National Assembly Faction leader Galust Sahakyan stated, during a briefing at the Parliament on Friday, responding to the question on whether PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan is Armenia’s Ivanishvili.   

“First, Gagik Tsarukyan has not yet announced his intention to run in the presidential elections [next February]. And if we approach [this] matter with humor, [we can say that] Armenia’s Ivanishvili is Vartan Oskanian,” Sahakyan noted.   

To the query as to whether this is why the Parliament stripped Oskanian of his parliamentary immunity, Galust Sahakyan responded: “No one stripped Oskanian of anything. Merely a parliamentary and public oversight is commissioned with respect to that case.”    

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, the National Assembly on Tuesday voted—by 64 ballots for, six against, and with one invalid vote—in favor of Prosecutor General’s petition to include Vartan Oskanian as a defendant in a criminal lawsuit. A total of 71 MPs participated in the voting.

To note, on May 25 the National Security Service (NSS) Department of Investigation filed a criminal lawsuit on charges of money laundering with respect to The Civilitas Foundation.

The NSS Press Center had informed that an investigation is underway in connection with selling the 100-percent shares of the Huntsman Building Products Company for around $2 million, but not informing Armenia’s tax authorities about this business deal; not using for charitable purposes $1,135,000 of that amount envisioned for charity; transferring this amount to the bank accounts opened under the names of the Civilitas Foundation’s founder Vartan Oskanian,  and of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees member Tigran Karapetyan; and using some of this amount for private purposes.

Photo by Sona Barseghyan