ARMENIAN DIPLOMATS DO NOT TRADE IN CARS

Lragir
Jan 24 2008
Armenia

The response of the head of the press and information department of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Karapetyan to Radio Liberty

Mr. Karapetyan, the German DPA agency informs that the diplomats
representing Armenia to Buenos Aires have appeared among diplomats of
over 30 other countries, who are suspected by the foreign ministry
of Argentina of illegal import of cars. Please confirm or refute
this information.

The part of the information published in the Clarin , an Argentinian
newspaper, and spread by the German agency DPA concerning the Armenian
embassy to Argentina and its staff is not true.

In Argentina no Armenian diplomat has ever bought a personal car and
has never been involved in any profit deal.

The Armenian embassy to Argentina owns a Honda Accord car which was
donated to the embassy in 2006 by the national benefactor Eduardo
Seferyan, and one For Focus which was bought in 2007. The Armenian
embassy does not own any other car.

It should be noted that the authoritative Argentinean newspaper La
Nacion published a story about the same incident but did not mention
the Armenian embassy.

The foreign minister of Argentina Jorge Taiana has initiated an
investigation in illegal import of cars. Several senior officials
of the foreign ministry and customs service of Argentina have been
dismissed.

The Armenian embassy urges in a letter to the editor of the Clarin
to refute the wrong information.