ARAM SARGSIAN CLAIMS THAT BRANDY SOLD BY YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY EXCEEDS AMOUNT OF GRAPES PURCHASED

Noyan Tapan
Sept 08 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. In his open letter published
recently in a number of Armenian newspapers, Herve Caroff, director
of the Yerevan Brandy Company (YBC), neither denied nor confirmed the
facts which indicate an illegal and unsparing use of reserve spirits
by the company. Aram Sargsian, chairman of the Democratic Party of
Armenia, deputy of the RA National Assembly, said that during a talk
with NT correspondent on September 8. According to him, the fact of
spirit embezzlement at the YBC was confirmed by the RA Prosecutor
General during a meeting with him. Commenting on this letter addressed
to him, A. Sargsian noted that only his allegation about the company’s
sale is refuted without any arguments. He said that the examination
of the data presented by the YBC management on how much grapes was
purchased in these years, how much brandy spirit can be obtained from
this amount of grapes, and how much brandy was sold allows to conclude
that the YBC has produced at least twice as much brandy as it would
be possible in case of the given amount of grape purchase. "According
to the agreement they signed at the time of the company’s purchase, the
initial amount of the basic spirit must have been kept," A. Sargsian
noted. At the same time, he said that his questions were addressed
not to the YBC’s director but to the management of Pernod Ricard. "I
applied to our authorities, which conducted a transaction with the
company’s management and are obliged to protect state interests,"
he stated.