Prime minister on offshore scandal: It is an absurdity

When making a speech at the discussion of the 2012 state budget execution report today, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan also commented on accusations made against him regarding an offshore company in Cyprus.

“I am accused of establishing an enterprise in an offshore zone with the aim of taking away someone’s business in Armenia. Any person related to the financial system will confirm that it is an absurdity,” Tigran Sargsyan said.

In his words, it is not difficult today to register a company in an offshore zone, say, in the name of Nikol Pashinian without his consent.

According to Tigran Sargsyan, the aim of the whole affair is to discredit him. “I have already stated about the absurdity of such accusations. I neither registered any offshore company in Cyprus or elsewhere nor gave anyone a power of attorney to register a company in my name. If you want to compromise anyone, it is a golden opportunity to do it,” the prime minister noted.

He reminded those present that on May 6, 2010, the day of the company’s registration, he was on an official visit to Prague so he couldn’t be present in two places.

“I take such accusations in my stride, it was not the first case,” Tigran Sargsyan said, adding that in the past 20 years his name was linked with various affairs.

“One should be prepared for such things in the future as well because democratic development presupposes it,” the prime minister noted.