The Chronicle of Everyday Corruption
ARFI was created at the end of 2022 and is a 100% subsidiary of the ANIF Foundation, whose activities were discussed earlier. He received a license from the Central Bank and named himself “the first crowdfunding platform in Armenia.” This is when private projects are announced that need investments and raise money.
Near-zero result
In fact, it’s an empty shell, the whole activity is a hastily made website with three project announcements. One of them collected 4% of the targeted investments, and the other two did not collect anything. It differs from the classified ads website in that there is a lot of formal information, mostly meaningless.
Salaries
All of the aforementioned is the result of the work of ARFI’s 20 employees in 15 months. However, in matters of remuneration, the employees did not deny themselves anything. The wages fund for 2023 amounted to 180 million drams. Mind you, out of taxpayers’ money. Nothing has been done, no one reports on the work done, no one asks, so in December, all management receives a generous bonus.
Suspicious procurements
There was a question about one procurement – the ARFI investment company ordered marketing services. In the announcement – to lead social networks, make stories, invite influencers, provide traffic, promote, and all that. However, there is only one participant in the tender – an individual entrepreneur registered in 2021 without employees on a simplified taxation regime. He offered a price of AMD 32 million. There are no competitors, no one disputes the price, immediately the agreement and the contract. 32 million drams for three months of services?
And the questions were like this.
What are your 20 employees doing, that you even need to purchase management of your social networks on the side?
How did it happen when usually ARFI required participants to have three years of experience in the field in the previous biddings, but this requirement disappeared in this tender?
How could an individual entrepreneur with no employees provide the required volume of services, hundreds of pages of materials, video shooting, SEO, and so on?
Has this sole proprietor provided the entire scope of services based on the procurement documentation and where are the results?
Non-transparency
Embezzlement is one problem. Non-transparency is another. How was the effectiveness of management assessed? How do you look at the fact that at least eight employees of ARFI are also under employment contract with the ANIF fund and receive salaries from there too? That is, they work part-time, are they moonlighting? How should we treat the question that some do not even live in Armenia, which does not interfere with receiving 4-7 million drams of salary per month from two government-funded organizations combined, aside from bonuses?
Nonaccountability
Like ANIF, the ARFI is closed to any outside questions. It’s not surprising, considering that the same people are working in both. Official phone numbers are disabled. If you get through to mobile phones, then a junior employee answers. Almost the same mantras as in ANIF, “contact in writing”, “I’m just a performer, contact the management”, “no, I can’t give you the phone number of the management, write a letter”. Even though the manager stood nearby and dictated the answers in a man’s voice, not daring to pick up the phone.
The junior staff member has already become hysterical because listening, thinking, and talking simultaneously is a lot of at least average management. But there was also a difference – a junior employee advised to contact the Ministry of Finance for all questions about the ARFI. Contact the Ministry of Finance. Really? Will you receive 180 million salaries a year for nothing, and let the poor thing Ministry of Finance take the rap for you?
In general, the state of the funds is nervous.
The director of the ARFI Investment Company, as well as the director of the ANIF Foundation, cannot be contacted. The financial director of both organizations, who is responsible for reporting and control, is not available.
But the organizations are working, there are no results, salaries from taxpayers’ money are regularly paid, and cozy offices and foreign business trips take place.
And we are thinking about how to raise money for the army or for the treatment of another sick child.
After all, the taxpayer, as another top manager announced, is the hero of our time.
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Levon Khalatyan
