Gyumri Mayor Vardges Samsonyan has resigned, the mayor’s press secretary confirmed the information.
The speaker said that there will be an announcement, and the staff reported that at the moment the staff has not yet received the resignation letter.
Earlier, we reported that a public criminal prosecution was initiated against former Gyumri Mayor Samvel Balasanyan. The police were instructed to present former Gyumri Mayor Samvel Balasanyan to the body conducting the proceedings. This was reported by the RA Investigative Committee.
According to the investigation body, Samvel Balasanyan and persons associated with him violated the law and privatized land adjacent to the Black Fortress historical and cultural fortress. Khachatur Balasanyan, the youngest son of former Gyumri Mayor Samvel Balasanyan, was arrested at Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan as part of a corruption case being investigated by the Constitutional Court. He was charged, the court rejected the investigator’s motion to choose a preventive measure for him in custody, applying a combined preventive measure – bail and house arrest. Among those arrested in this case were Suren Janoyan, the current deputy mayor of Gyumri, and Ruben Sanosyan, who held the post of mayor during the rule of Samvel Balasanyan. At the moment, five defendants are involved in the criminal proceedings.
The decision to arrest Balasanyan was made several days ago. Samvel Balasanyan was held accountable for abuse of office and laundering large sums of money. According to Pastinfo, he is abroad.