Martuni Deputy Mayor at the Center of a Conviction and a Criminal Case

Vahagn Davtyan, First Deputy Mayor of Martuni, has been convicted of submitting a forged document, while in another criminal case he is accused of an offense related to evading customs payments. Nevertheless, according to published information, he continues to hold municipal office and is included as number four on the Civil Contract Party’s list for the October 25 local self-government elections. These circumstances raise questions about the criteria used by the Civil Contract Party to select its candidates and the personnel policy of the Martuni Municipality.

According to information presented by Hraparak, Davtyan was found guilty in October 2024 of an offense предусмотрed by Part 1 of Article 457 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia. According to the charges, he submitted a forged document in order to obtain permission to access information containing state secrets. The court imposed a fine of 713,000 drams on him.

Davtyan’s name is also mentioned in a criminal case concerning the smuggling of motor oils and evasion of customs payments, which has been under examination at the Anti-Corruption Criminal Court since 2022. According to the charges published on Datalex, between September 2020 and March 3, 2021, engine oils of the SAE 40 grade under the name “DRIFT 7000” were imported from Iran into Armenia, bypassing customs control and clearance procedures.

According to the charges, Davtyan approached Bagrat Tumanyan for assistance in evading customs payments. According to the case materials, Tumanyan, in turn, involved officials at the Meghri customs checkpoint. Hayk Melkumyan, Armen Panyan, Samvel Hambardzumyan, and Rubik Margaryan are also defendants in the case, and their actions are likewise under investigation.

According to the charges, the motor oils that had not undergone customs clearance were transported to Martuni and handed over to Davtyan, who sold most of them. On March 5, 2021, National Security Service officers discovered and seized 1,200 containers of motor oil in the yard of his house.

Davtyan denies that he imported the goods himself. In a conversation with Hraparak, he stated: “I said that I wasn’t the one bringing them in. We wanted to buy them and sell them. The law enforcement officers came and said they were illegal. I said, ‘They’re not mine, take them away.’” According to him, the case is still under examination, and court hearings are being postponed because defense lawyers fail to appear. His guilt in this case has not been established by a final court ruling.

However, for the Civil Contract Party, the issue is not limited to the ongoing criminal case. The information about Davtyan’s conviction is already grounds for determining the criteria by which the party selects its candidates. Since his name appears fourth on the electoral list, the party leadership should clarify whether it was aware of the verdict and how it assessed this circumstance.

Questions also arise for Martuni Mayor Hovik Hoveyan. Has he reviewed the court ruling concerning his first deputy and determined what consequences it might have for his continued tenure? Even if the law does not prohibit Davtyan from continuing to hold office in this case, that does not eliminate the need to answer public questions about personnel decisions.