"Hraparak" writes:
The details of the Ministry of Defense's tenders are usually a closed topic. Neither their participants speak about it publicly, nor are officials inclined to reveal behind-the-scenes secrets. The "Annarka" company has chosen a different path - the path of a direct and open struggle for justice.
Where this path will lead is not yet clear, but what is happening in the field of tenders of the military department can cause shock in a proud citizen. In 2023, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law, "Annarka" LLC participated in the tender for the purchase of medical equipment for the needs of the Ministry of Defense and was recognized as the winner. Earlier, the tender announced for the building where the future MRI machine was to be installed next to the Muratsan hospital had already been held and completed. In other words, the place was already being prepared for a very specific device, and not at first they announced the tender for the device, and then the parameters of the building corresponding to it were determined. And in the technical specifications for the competition, they wrote the passport data of a specific device. They formulated it so carelessly that they didn't even remove the company name, CANON, from their drawings.
Looking at them, it was clear to even an idiot that the tender should be won by one specific company, to bring a specific device. And suddenly, unexpectedly for everyone, the second participant, “Annarka” LLC, comes in and offers a lower price and wins the tender for 550 million drams. The Ministry of Defense arbitrarily shortened the deadlines. “Annarka” founder Yerem Sargsyan, who has been in the throes of the obstacles imposed by the Ministry of Defense for three years, with huge documents in his hands, has been going from instance to instance, applying to all possible responsible persons, then to the court, to be allowed to complete the tender he won, and he has not been able to. He proves that the device he brought is of high quality, it can be very useful for the army, it is a modern device intended for examining the health problems of hundreds of soldiers, the like of which is not available in Armenia. However, since the organization he intended did not win the tender, the Ministry of Defense did everything to hinder the import, installation, training, and acceptance of the device at all stages, and for Sargsyan, the "obstacle race" began.
The Military Medical Department of the Ministry of Defense, instead of helping, hindered his work as best they could. "First, Mirakyan, an employee of that department, requested the parameters of our equipment from us in a letter. They probably didn't believe that we would bring the device they requested. We presented the documents, after which they began to artificially complicate things for us. According to the plan, 5 months were given to produce the device, but they told us that we had to bring it in 2 months, they hoped that we wouldn't make it. In addition to the fact that the device was in China, it was necessary that a diesel generator be connected to it, and that there was an appropriate container. We wrote to the company, changed the logistics and, with great difficulty, brought it in the required 2 months,” says Yerem Sargsyan. The terrible “quest” continues. When the cargo is already in Armenia and ready for customs clearance, it turns out that the building, which was built specifically for the installation of a new MRI device in the Muratsan hospital, is in a dilapidated state: it does not have a separate three-phase power supply, there are no conditions for bringing in the huge delicate equipment weighing several tons. The building had to be rebuilt. In other words, the device was brought in at lightning speed, but the place was not ready. On December 23, 2023, the company director writes a letter to the prime minister. He is summoned to a meeting with Deputy Minister Brutyan and the head of the military medical department, Pashoyan, who recently received the rank of general. A joint action plan is drawn up, they draw up on paper who should do what, the year changes, but the building remains in the same, dilapidated state. It turns out that the Ministry of Defense is not giving the builder money and is delaying the necessary documentation issues. “They are doing everything they can to sabotage our work,” says Yerem Sargsyan.
He came to the editorial office of "Hraparak" with his accountant and took out a piece of paper from his suitcase for every word. Finally, in March 2024, when the building and all the conditions were finally ready, engineers invited from abroad arrived at the Muratsan hospital. They were supposed to furnish a special room for the installation of the MRI device, but the Ministry of Defense took them and without any explanation forbids them from entering the hospital premises. The poor engineers lived in a hotel for a whole week and left Armenia. How they "rolled" an MRI device weighing several tons into "Muratsan" After overcoming this part of the quest, when the huge device weighing several tons had to be brought in, Yerem Sargsyan called the Military Medical Department of the Ministry of Defense, asking them to send at least 10 people to help carry the heavy device in. This elementary request was also rejected. Sargsyan is forced to mobilize all the employees of his company, and the people, with their own strength, manually “roll” the MRI machine into Muratsan Hospital. The machine is finally turned on.
Today, it is still placed in a specially constructed building on the territory of the Muratsan hospital, it is connected, but it does not work. Then the Ministry of Defense acceptance committee begins to look for “minor” technical discrepancies. For example, the height of the table should have been a few centimeters higher, but it is lower. “Although all the standards were previously agreed with them and signed by both parties. After that, they should have withdrawn our guarantee amount of 650 thousand dollars, but we went to court,” says Yerem Sargsyan. There is an interesting episode of “reconciliation” in the judicial odyssey. As compensation, the Ministry of Defense demanded from the company to provide the hospital with another free computed tomography (CT) device. The company, only if the issue is resolved, agreed and sent an official letter to the Ministry of Defense. But this document also remained on paper.
PS. They desperately appealed to the court, but the first instance ruled in favor of the Ministry of Defense. They appealed it. And the 550 million device is still of no use to anyone, hundreds of soldiers have been waiting for months to undergo an MRI scan in other clinics, for which the Ministry of Defense pays. The company's money is frozen. We also wanted to get a comment from the Ministry of Defense, although the documents and correspondence provided by "Annarka" do not raise any suspicions. However, we will wait for the Ministry of Defense's response.
By the way, Yerem Sargsyan has repeatedly applied to the ministry with a request to meet with Suren Papikyan in person, but Papikyan has stubbornly refused to accept. And hundreds of servicemen who participated in wars and have thousands of health problems have severe head and spine injuries, contusions, hidden hematomas, and an accurate MRI diagnosis may be the only salvation.
