YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The Control Chamber (CC) of Armenia conducted checks on the use of budgetary allocations and the management of state property at the RA Ministry of Culture in 2007-2008, as a result of which a number of violations, including financial ones, have been revealed, is said in the report approved at the June 30 sitting of the CC Board. The Chairman of the Control Chamber Ishkhan Zakarian said at a press conference following the sitting that finacial violations of a total of 61.499 million drams were revealed through analysis of the documents regarding authenticity of expenditures on several programs at the expense of allocations of the government's reserve fund in the indicated period. This money, including 14.9 million drams allocated for Sayat-Nova opera which was not staged in 2006, is subject to repayment to the state budget. Violations of 24 million drams were revealed at some state noncommercial organizations under the jurisdiction of the ministry of culture. In particular, 19.96 million drams for the development of legal acts was transferred to the Yerevan subsidiary of a UK-based company in an offshore zone. According to I. Zakarian, the examination found that the indicated organization provides advisory services on insurance. However, they failed to find this organization to determine authenticity of the documents on the money transferred. The organization must repay the transferred sum to the budget. In the words of I. Zakarian, the saddest picture is with regard to the program on the restoration of monuments, where ineffective spending of budgetary resources, as well as facts of embezzlement were recorded. Expenses of about 66 million drams on design work were considered ineffective. I. Zakarian underlined that the 188 million drams allocated under the program must be repaid to the state budget. Gross violations were also revealed at Gugark company engaged in restoration of historical and cultural monuments. The company must repay 321 million drams received for the restoration of Hnevank complex and Kobayri Monastery (10th-11th centuries) to the state budget. I. Zakarian said that he had intended to send the case on this company to the prosecutor's office, but the day before he received an official letter from the minister of culture informing him that the ministry has already applied to Lori regional prosecutor's office.

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