Liana Manukyan on State Procurement of COP17 Branded Gifts: Declared Spending of Around 290 Million Drams
Liana Manukyan, a member of the Strong Armenia faction, has stated that around 290 million drams was allocated or spent from the state budget to purchase COP17 branded gifts. In her speech, she presented the quantities purchased and contract prices of several items, comparing them with prices she found through her own market research. According to the MP, the absence of product specifications in the contracts made it difficult to adequately assess their value.
Manukyan noted that she had conducted market research by purchasing various samples of the products and comparing their prices with the amounts listed in state procurement records.
Thermoses. According to the data presented by the MP, 16,500 thermoses were purchased at 7,800 drams each. She said that the retail prices of four different models available on the market ranged from 2,000 to 3,500 drams. If an additional 1,000 drams were calculated for branded printing, the maximum cost of one thermos, according to her assessment, would be 4,500 drams. Based on this calculation, the difference between the state procurement price and the stated maximum cost would be 3,300 drams per unit.
Badge lanyards. According to Manukyan, the state purchased 19,700 lanyards at 1,248 drams each. She reported that, during her market searches, she had been unable to find an offer exceeding 55 drams. However, based on assessments by market specialists, she noted that a high-quality version with branded printing could cost as much as 600 drams. The MP emphasized that the contractual price of 1,248 drams significantly exceeds the comparative value she presented.
Eco-bags. According to the MP, 16,500 eco-bags were purchased at 3,432 drams each. Manukyan noted that she had purchased an already branded eco-bag at retail for 3,000 drams. Thus, in the example she provided, the price difference per unit amounts to 432 drams.
Badges. According to the MP’s presentation, 18,550 badges were purchased at prices ranging from 2,340 to 2,964 drams each. Manukyan said that the price of the highest-quality badges on the market was around 1,800 drams. She also drew attention to other cost items included in the contract, noting that some of them, in her assessment, required a logical justification.
At the end of her speech, Liana Manukyan stated that, despite not being a state procurement specialist and spending only one day conducting market research, she had managed to identify, according to her calculations, potential savings of 84 million 984 thousand 600 drams.
Thus, once again, we are witnessing another episode of the possible inefficient expenditure of state budget funds. Liana Manukyan’s calculations concerning potential savings of around 85 million drams raise serious questions about the organization of state procurement and the effectiveness of oversight over it. However, it is difficult to shake off the concern that the arguments presented by the opposition MP will not receive an appropriate response from anti-corruption bodies, overlooking the fact that oversight of the use of public funds must operate independently of political circumstances, and every questionable procurement must be subject to proper examination. In the absence of a response, the authorities’ statements about accountability for the state budget will remain nothing more than empty words, while taxpayers will once again be deprived of the opportunity to receive substantiated answers about how public funds are spent.