An inquiry by the Ministry of Health in Armenia found that public funds intended to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic in 2020 were misused because of insufficient or nonexistent accounting controls.
Arsen Torosyan and Anahit Avanesyan, Armenia’s current and former health ministers, met today to evaluate the Audit Chamber’s findings. It is the AC’s job to keep track of how the state’s money is spent.
Health Ministry officials were accused by the AC of failing to adequately prepare for an outbreak and of lacking budgetary oversight.
An estimated $58,6 million of Armenia’s 2020 budget will go toward fighting the Ebola virus, its containment and treatment. This information was not made available to the AC by the Ministry of Health, according to the AC.
With inadequate resources, Torosyan and Avanesyan warned that the ministry was unable to adequately respond to the spread of the virus in Armenia.
Torosyan argued that the AC was missing crucial information.
AC The parliament’s chairman, Atom Janjughazyan, insisted that the audit was accurate.