"Aravot" says that the Defense Ministry is attempting to hide its spending habits under a veil of secrecy. Although the state procurement website displays information on military spending on the soldier's clothing, the public is concerned that billions are being spent from the state budget, when simultaneously the same things are being purchased for the soldiers by their parents. This is reason enough for the Defense Ministry to review its spending.

Transparency International anti-corruption center’s (TIAC) procurement specialist Artak Manukyan in a conversation with “Aravot” stated that, even though there is some information available about the Defense Ministry’s procurement, the general public and NGO’s cannot follow the implementation process. For example, did the clothing purchased for soldiers actually get to the soldiers? How much of the amount purchased reached the soldiers? Did the entire amount purchased get delivered? This type of information is inaccessible and uncontrollable. According to Artak Manukyan, “TIAC’s monitoring results give us reason to suspect that there are risky elements at play. Let's say that it is announced that a 100 thousand items in the form of clothing, hygiene products, etc. are purchased for soldiers but only 50 thousand items are delivered. We are dealing with relatively predictable demand; meaning that the Defense Ministry knows the exact number of soldiers and what their needs are, in this case clothing. Thus, the fact that parents are also purchasing clothing for soldiers is reason to believe that there are corruption risks present, which can be the consequence of embezzlement of budget funds and inefficient spending,” says Manukyan.

According to the expert, the Defence Ministry's non military spending should be made available at least in an aggregated form, which will increase not only public control but also accountability.

Read the full article on “Aravot”