Pursuant to the Constitutional Law on “Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly,” today Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan presented the report for 2024 on the activities of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia to the RA National Assembly, which had been submitted to the National Assembly on March 31, 2025, and published on the official website of the Prosecutor’s Office.

Anna Vardapetyan particularly mentioned:

“The report, inter alia, includes the following:

• The work conducted in the field of protection of state and community interests and confiscation of property of illicit origin, examinations, claims submitted to the court, properties and funds returned to the state and communities.
• Fight against crime and corruption starting from the supervision over the criminal proceedings and pursuit of the charge at a court until the oversight over the lawfulness of application of punishments and other coercive measures.
• Prevention, disclosure and punishment of military service related crimes, as well as examinations aimed at revealing violations of the material security of the armed forces and recovery of the damage caused.

Dear Colleagues,

During the session of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly, a detailed presentation was submitted on the structure and dynamics of crime in 2024, as well as the efforts made to combat crime and counter criminality, based on data from the Information Center of the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, developed and thoroughly outlined in the Report by the Prosecutor’s Office. Therefore, I will not address again in my speech the issues already discussed during the Committee session.

In 2024, through both ongoing and completed criminal proceedings, approximately AMD 42 billion— USD equivalent to around 107.389 million—was recovered in damages caused to the state and communities (in 2023, this amount was 34.3 billion AMD).

In 2024, totally 9,830 criminal cases involving 10,691 persons were examined and concluded in the courts (compared to 5,080 cases involving 5,485 persons in 2023, and 3,208 cases involving 3,690 persons in 2022). Thus, in 2024, the number of cases examined and concluded in courts increased by 4,750 cases, or 93.5%, compared to 2023. Acquittals were issued in only 1.8% of the cases concluded in court.

In 2024, the total damage caused by crimes under criminal cases examined in court amounted to AMD 6 billion 875 million 164 thousand (compared to AMD 663 million 495 thousand in 2023). Under cases concluded by judicial proceedings, AMD 210 million 481 thousand was recovered (AMD 173 million 385 thousand in 2023). 

According to these indicators, during the period of 2018-2024, approximately AMD 210 billion 79 million (equivalent to USD 536 million 216 thousand) worth of property and financial assets were returned to the Republic of Armenia and local communities, 46% of which—or AMD 96 billion 934 million (USD 247 million 773 thousand)—were recovered in 2023 and 2024.

In particular:

• In 2018, about AMD 39 billion 571 million were returned to the Republic of Armenia and communities.
• In 2019, about AMD 10 billion 327 million were returned to the Republic of Armenia and communities.
• In 2020, about AMD 12 billion 256 million were returned to the Republic of Armenia and communities.
• In 2021, about AMD 15 billion 467 million were returned to the Republic of Armenia and communities.
• In 2022, about AMD 35 billion 522 million were returned to the Republic of Armenia and communities.
• In 2023, about AMD 44 billion 298 million of property and funds were returned to the Republic of Armenia and communities.
• In 2024, about AMD 52 billion 636 million of property and funds were returned to the Republic of Armenia and communities.

Thus, based on the claims filed in the reporting year and in previous years, during 2024, the ownership rights of the Republic of Armenia or the community were registered in 18 units of real estate with a cadastral value approximated to the market value of about 2 billion 785 million 511 thousand drams, based on the judicial acts issued by prosecutors.

During 2024, a number of properties were returned to the state and communities based on prosecutorial acts, the total value of which amounts to AMD 107 million 341 thousand. As a result of the application of prosecutorial measures, AMD 4 billion 462 million 706 thousand—equivalent to USD 11 million 310 thousand, were recovered in 2024. It should be reminded that AMD 2 billion 482 million 453 thousand were recovered in 2023.

In summary, I would like to note that during 2024, through ongoing and completed claims and settlements for the protection of state and community interests and the confiscation of property of illegal origin, as well as through prosecutorial measures applied by the Military Prosecutor's Office, property and funds worth about AMD 52 billion 636 million, equivalent to USD 134 million 729 thousand, were returned to the Republic of Armenia and communities (in 2023, property and funds worth AMD 44 billion 298 million, equivalent to USD 113 million 386 thousand).

Dear Colleagues,

During the reporting period, as a result of consistent and proper prosecutorial oversight over the legality of pre-trial criminal proceedings, as well as the adoption of decisive prosecutorial acts, a number of criminal proceedings were submitted to court with approved indictments.

The report outlines the state of prosecutorial oversight over the legality of pre-trial criminal proceedings and the enforcement of prosecution in cases initiated in 2023 under the elements of crimes defined by Articles 290 (evasion of taxes, duties, and other mandatory payments) and 291 (smuggling of cash funds and/or payment instruments) of the Criminal Code, which were concluded in 2024.

In this context, the Report analyzes the practical issues encountered and presents the Prosecutor’s Office’s positions thereon. Among the identified issues are:

• The calculation of damages caused to the state in criminal proceedings initiated under Article 290 of the Criminal Code;
• The annulment by the Administrative Court of comprehensive tax audit reports, which gave rise to tax liabilities, prior to the resolution of the criminal case;
• The calculation of tax limitation periods as prescribed by the Tax Code;
• The inclusion of penalties and fines, in addition to the core tax obligations (arrears), in the alleged offense.

Thus, compared to 2022, the amount of identified damage caused to the state as a result of alleged crimes increased by AMD 379,101,504, or 95.66%, in 2023. For comparison, it should be noted that in just the first half of 2024, the amount of identified damage caused to the state amounted to AMD 514,409,890.

Dear Colleagues,

The 2024 Activity Report of the Prosecutor’s Office was published about a month ago, and during this time, we have been receiving feedback from various partners—academic and practicing legal professionals, representatives of civil society, and journalists—that the information included in the report is being used as a valuable source for research and analysis.

I would like to express my gratitude to the prosecutors, staff of the Prosecutor’s Office, and all our colleagues in the law enforcement and judicial systems, whose dedicated and conscientious work enabled us to achieve the results described in this report over the past year.