Prosecutor General of Armenia excludes possibility of problems with special combat vehicles during April war because of low-quality diesel fuel
ArmInfo.Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan excludes the possibility of problems with special combat vehicles and failures during the April war because of low- quality diesel fuel. This was stated by the Prosecutor General in response to the request of the Armenian service of Radio Liberty.
Commenting on the question whether the case in connection with the disruptions in the work of military equipment during the four-day war because of the low-quality diesel fuel was in the proceedings of the Prosecutor General's Office, the supervisory authority replied: "In April 2016, the father of the late deputy head of the N-th military unit of the NKR Defense Army, Lieutenant Colonel Alexan Araqelyan, Gevorg Araqelyan, told the media that during the April war, cases were recorded when the tank was filled with water instead of fuel, as well as cases of lack of a battery, because of which the relevant military equipment did not arrive in time on the scene of hostilities. The prepared materials on the case were not substantiated, further - they were refuted, on the basis of which a decision was made to refuse to open a criminal case".
To note, the Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan stated from the rostrum of the parliament that because of the low-quality diesel fuel, during the April war, in the zone of the Karabakh conflict, there were problems with the operation of military equipment. In this regard, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, said that if such information exists, then an investigation should be conducted. "I do not mind it, but I am sure that this could not be the case", Ohanyan said. The current Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan tried to smear the situation, saying that Prime Minister Karapetyan's statement was taken out of context and misinterpreted. Despite Sargsyan's attempts to "save the situation," Karapetyan did not give up his words, and again stated in a conversation with journalists about the existence of such a problem, while promising to correct it through total control and consistent work.
After that the Prime Minister of Artsakh Ara Harutyunyan confirmed the words of Karen Karapetyan. According to the Artsakh Premier, for many years the market of diesel fuel has low-quality products, which are used for the exploitation of agricultural machinery, vehicles and construction equipment. "As for the April events, both then and in the following months, private construction companies working for the Defense Army had many problems associated with low-quality fuel, as the government in an accelerated order purchased it from private suppliers", he stressed. According to Harutyunyan, there were problems with the vehicles that serve the army, which, according to experts, was because of poor-quality diesel fuel. "Because of this problem, not only the equipment came into disrepair, but engineering work was also delayed. It should be understood that if there are poor-quality products, especially in emergency situations and with quick purchases, such problems are not ruled out", he resumed.
Subsequently, however, the words of the prime minister officially denied the Ministry of Defense. Meanwhile, Karapetyan somehow smeared his statement about problems with diesel fuel during the war, however, at the last meeting of the government, again stated the availability of low-quality fuel in the Armenian market and it is necessary to take appropriate measures against it.