Former Deputy Yerevan Mayor Vahe Nikoyan has now been charged with bribery in addition to an earlier charge of abusing his official powers in a case involving Sanitek LLC, the Beirut-based company who held the contract to clean the city’s streets of garbage and snow.

Nikoyan was arrested last December on charges that he paid three billion AMD (US$7.6 million) to Sanitek even though the company failed to provide services included in its contract with the Yerevan Municipality. He was later released on his own recognizance. 

Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee Committee (ACC), at the time, alleged that Nikoyan, while serving as deputy mayor from 2012-2018, monitored the issuance of sanitation contracts for Yerevan and awarded work deals with the companies despite their failure to meet qualification criterion.

The ACC added that after the contracts were signed, Sanitek signed a lease to rent three Yerevan properties from Nikoyan’s father at the equivalent of $1,000-$6,000 per month.

The Prosecutor General’s Office today claimed Nikoyan accepted bribes from Sanitek in the lease deal.