Armenian parliament deputy Aram Harutyunyan has been charged with taking a $14mn bribe in order to issue special licenses for the study and operation of ten non-ferrous metal ores in four provinces of Armenia.

Harutyunyan in his capacity as Minister of Nature Protection  in 2008 committed money laundering by way of making remittances to bank accounts that were opened in other people’s names in another country.

Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan has submitted a petition to the National Assembly to give its consent for launching a criminal prosecution against Harutyunyan, and for remanding him in custody.

The attorney general’s petition to strip Harutyunyan from his parliamentary immunity and to detain him will be debated on at the regular sessions of the parliament on December 4.

Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on Wednesday will meet with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan.

The talk will take place in Milan, Italy, and by the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed.

A contract soldier of the Armenian Defense Ministry Gor Sargsyan was found dead on Saturday.

The serviceman’s body was found at the combat position of a military unit, and with a fatal gunshot wound.

An investigation is underway to find out the circumstances behind this incident.

Armenia’s Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to postpone the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit which is slated for December 6, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

“During our recent phone conversation, the president of the Russian Federation proposed, said that since there is such a situation, let’s not do the CSTO summit on the 6th [of December], so that we discuss the solutions in a working order, and then go [to a summit] with ready solutions,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan added that the arrangement is that they continue the working discussions until reaching any consensus.

It has been found out that, from 2009 to 2018, several officials who were engaged in the implementation of the North-South Road Corridor construction project in Armenia, have used their official position in contrast to the interests of this service, or have not fulfilled their respective obligations, in an attempt to conceal the ineffective management of this project.

In particular, in violation of the specified deadlines, construction of the North-South Highway was not completed. As a result, the respective damage caused to the Armenian state exceeded $48 million.

The manager of the project team of a joint French enterprise had stolen $1.9 million by fraudulent means.