Are Armenia's Regional Governors Shirking Their Responsibilities? In the previous issue of Hetq, we noted the increasing number of local community leaders who have attracted the attention of Armenia's law enforcement agencies. The preponderance of the criminal cases initiated against them deal with the embezzlement of municipal funds, official fraud and the misuse of power. Armenia's Control Chamber (CC), a sort of government accounting office, has often supplied the evidence to launch such cases. The local community leaders of Lori Marz, situated in northwestern Armenia, have the dubious distinction of heading the list of culprits. During the past two years, indictments have been handed down against G. Nazloukhanyan, the Mayor of Debed; V. Ourousyan, the Mayor of Djrashen, and A. Hakobyan, the village accountant; V. Yeghiazaryan, the Mayor of Lernapat; and S. Tamazyan, the Mayor of Akhtala; among others. Given that one of the main responsibilities of the Regional Administrations is to monitor and regulate the activities of local government leaders, we asked the heads of some of the RA's Local Governmental Departments why it is that they never noticed the violations and shortcomings taking place in their own backyards. Vanik Asatryan, who heads the Department of Local Self-Government in Lori Marz, who leads the pack when it comes to criminal charges against local leaders, listened to our questions and then replied that he had only recently heard of Hetq and that he couldn't answer over the phone. "You are asking a type of question that I just cannot answer to any random person by phone. Come to my office and present your press credentials and put your questions in writing," he suggested. All we wanted to ask was why Lori Marz was inundated with such a large number of law-breaking local leaders and what steps were being taken to prevent similar violations down the road. Criminal charges against community leaders have also been handed down in Armavir Marz. In March, 2009, the Control Chamber discovered that the mayor of the community of Talvorik had signed work and service contracts with a number of companies. Funds were allocated from the local budget which the mayor proceeded to pocket. The Control Chamber also audited the books of the communities of Paraqar and Margara and came up with discrepancies. Meanwhile, the mayors of these communities were arguing that the audits the CC carried out were flawed and that they never did anything illegal. Arsen Ghoukasyan, head of the Armavir Local Self-Governance Department, told Hetq that they had no prior knowledge of the CC's evidence, otherwise they would have taken preventative steps. Mr. Ghoukasyan, in an apparent face-saving measure, told us that the CC's allegation that lands were being exploited to mine salt proved false after an investigation was conducted. The CC had discovered that two companies, Araks-Basin and Vineka, had been allocated four hectares apiece at 25,000 AMD per acre. Arsen Ghoukasyan assured us that the Regional Governor Ashot Ghahramanyan was aware of the situation and closely following developments. "The Regional Governor appointed a committee, a special investigatory body, that is doing work on the matter," added Mr. Ghoukasyan. He didn't agree with our observation  that the Regional Administration has conducted no spot checks or audits recently and that, as a result, it has reported no official misconduct. "How can you claim that no findings have been made? Violations are being unearthed. The Regional Governor holds discussions all the time and steps are taken to regain what has been stolen or misappropriated. Who says we sit on our hands and do nothing?, the official replied. Nevertheless, he had great difficulty naming one instance when the Regional Administration reported any such malfeasance. Furthermore, the fact that the Regional Administration has never publicly declared that a certain mayor has committed a crime, or that it has prevented such crimes from happening, due to is internal investigations, bolsters the point we are making. Mr. Ghoukasyan said that all these issues are discussed and explored during at Regional Council hearings. The RoA Control Chamber will conduct examinations in Aragatzotn Marz sometimes this year. The Regional Council's own committee, headed by Local Governance Department Head Sirasniq Hovsepyan, is currently conducting financial audits in seven local communities. Norik Galstyan, Chief of the Regional Administration's Department of Financial and Socio-Economic Development, told Hetq that he could not reveal the names of those communities . "They were internal audits and I do not have the permission to name names," he said. Mr. Hovsepyan noted that according to the RoA "Law on Local Self-Governance, Regional Authorities conduct administrative and financial oversight regarding the activities of local community leaders, and that it is the Minister of Territorial Administration who authorizes the annual purview of such oversight. "If shortcomings or flaws are revealed due to inspections that involve the recapture of state resources, we take actions. But there are also issues say, for instance, when the "Law on Procurement" is violated. The deed has been done. There are simply mistakes of formulation. These are turned over to the legal expert," Mr. Hovsepyan noted. Mr. Siransik Hovsepyan didn't agree with our observation  that Regional Administrations, Aragatzotn included, do not usually publicize the findings of their investigations. "No, not at all. I beg to differ. For the past two years we have organized discussions with the municipal councils after our investigations. The local community residents are informed of the violations we uncover. In addition, we obligate community leaders to publish the text of our results in full in the local press and to post it on the municipal bulletin board," added Mr. Hovsepyan. He told us that during the past few years, the Aragatzotn Regional Administration has not unearthed any earth shattering violations on the local level in its midst. "However illiterate community leaders may be, they try to impart some legal valuation or assessment of the violations. Perhaps, there are some violations according to correct Armenian formulation, but they have no legal basis. This too is a problem," added Mr. Hovsepyan.