Hetq: IT companies in Armenia received government grants and ceased operations

YEREVAN, November 14. /ARKA/.  A study conducted by Armenian  Hetq publication (Investigative Journalists Public Association) has revealed that a number of IT companies in Armenia ceased their operations after receiving government grants or were no longer operating at the time of the grant agreement.

The publication notes that according to the government's decision of December 1, 2022, state support in the amount of AMD 10 billion was provided to IT companies to help the sector overcome financial problems that emerged after Armenian dram strengthened against USD.

Hetq reminds that the Ministry of Hi-Tech Industry did not provide the list of the companies that received state support, and Hetq filed a lawsuit against the ministry and was able to find out the names of these companies.  

The publication made public the size of the support and the companies' details.  "Having a list of some of these companies, we found out that 14 of them have temporarily ceased operations, 4 are in the process of liquidation. Many of them had already ceased operations even before signing the grant agreement with the Ministry of High-Tech Industry. It turns out that the Ministry provided financial support to companies that have temporarily ceased operations," the article says.

It is noted that a total of 18 companies received 190 million drams from the state as a grant. Eight of them belong to foreign citizens or organizations.  Hetq asked the Ministry of Hi-Tech Industry to explain why the grant agreements were concluded with the companies that temporarily ceased their activities and whether the risks that some companies would start bankruptcy process or cease their activities were analyzed before the decision was made.

The publication intends to publish the ministry's response as soon as it is received. -0-

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14:22 11/15/2023