As a result of the investigation, which lasted more than four months, Armenian News-NEWS.am found out remarkable information about the process of acquisition of equipment for the examination of DNA identification of the remains and bodies of war victims at the end of last year by the SNCO expertise center of the Armenian health ministry.

In previous publications, News of Armenia - NEWS.am turned to the use of the purchased equipment and, with professional justification, presented the possible risks arising during the examination of DNA identification.

Our research has shown that when organizing the process, which is most important for the state and relatives of the victims, those responsible not only did not take into account important professional nuances, but provided the expertise center of the Ministry of Health with a monopoly on the DNA identification process, and expertise center, in turn, as a result of an urgent purchase, provided superprofits for the supplier company. We present the details of the dubious transaction in order and facts.

According to the information available in the public procurement system, the expertise center, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, in December last year, announced a tender for the purchase of a set of analyzers and accessories for the examination of DNA identification, in which two companies took part - Medisar LLC, engaged in the import and supply of laboratory research and maintenance of medical equipment, and Prom-test LLC.

The second company’s application was rejected because the delivery time offered by it did not meet the procurement requirements. As a result, on December 18, expertise center concluded an agreement with Medisar LLC for 295.8 million drams (over $568,000). The company undertook to make the purchase under the contract by January 31st.

According to Armenian News-NEWS.am, the aforementioned supplier purchased equipment for DNA identification from Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world's leading science company, in December 2020.

The journalist of Armenian News – NEWS.am, introducing himself as a supplier of laboratory equipment, sent a written request to this company two months ago with a request to provide prices for 39 items of goods listed in the contract.

A few days ago, we received a response from the official representative of Thermo Fisher company, according to which the company offered $ 237.586 for the purchase of 39 items of equipment and laboratory materials, which is equivalent to AMD 122.766 million.

Taking into account the significant difference between the amount allocated by the state for the purchase stipulated by the contract and the offered price for the equipment, we also tried to find out the customs value of the goods imported into Armenia.

In particular, according to the information on customs transactions at the disposal of Armenian News-NEWS.am, on January 5, 2021 DNA identification equipment was imported from Georgia, the countries of origin of which were China and Singapore.

The total customs value of these goods amounted to about AMD 184 million, including taxes. From the data obtained, it becomes clear that as a result of the procurement process, the supplier company received a profit (overhead) of at least AMD 111 million ($212,237 US).

The procurement process took place during the work of the Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan.

According to our information, for the purpose of the prompt acquisition, Torosyan personally negotiated with the supplier and was in direct contact with the company's management.

As a reminder, as early as January 5, Armenian News – NEWS.am addressed this dubious deal, noting that the center had acquired the same equipment back in 2018.

In this automated system with typing up to 300 DNA per day, SNCO cannot use even 10% of the total capacity, since it does not have sufficient expert potential to carry out complex procedures for preparing samples for bone DNA sequencing. We found that even purchasing a second piece of equipment would not speed up the identification process and that this would take more than 6-7 months.

And thus, three months after the purchase of new equipment, it became clear that those responsible for the sphere were forced to send abroad about 100 remains of the victims since they are extremely damaged and that it is impossible to identify them with the equipment available in Armenia. And 7 months after the end of hostilities, 70 samples taken from the bodies and remains of war victims are in the process of examination.

In this case, a logical question arises: before the next ineffective expenses, the responsible persons of the sphere did not calculate the possible problems arising during the examination of DNA identification, or, fearing a justified protest from the relatives of the victims, hastened to dispel the discontent of relatives, stating that the state is acquiring second equipment to accelerate DNA research?

And, in the end, is it really justifiable for a country facing a post-war crisis and serious socio-economic difficulties to trust the acquisition of such a production line to a company that can receive super-profits from supplies associated with the expertise of DNA identification of the bodies and remains of war victims? Or maybe government officials were also involved in this process and got their share?

The issues of identifying possible crimes committed in the course of the transaction should first of all be dealt with by the General Prosecutor's Office, which is obliged to find out how effectively public funds were spent, whether we are dealing with an alleged case of embezzlement or not.

The head of state must also express his position on this issue, who has an undeniable commitment to resolving this problem. By the way, when Nikol Pashinyan was an opposition deputy, he often criticized those suppliers who received excess profits. According to Pashinyan, the suppliers of the Ministry of Defense received the most super-profits in Armenia. It is curious whether Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan still has the same position on this issue, that in order to protect his own, he is once again ready to close his eyes to the dispersion of state funds?