We have been informed by reliable sources of information that there are serious reasons why the head of the Armenia pan-Armenian foundation Vahe Aghabekyan resigned and even there is an interesting story. The problem is the fact that during the annual TV marathon in 2007 the total amount of the collected donations is not $15 million as reported officially, but less than 1 million. The reason is the fact that the members of the trustees of the board, who are mostly wealthy Diaspora Armenians, were disappointed about the rural communities development program presented by ex-FM Vardan Oskanyan in September 2007 (during the Armenia-Diaspora congress). At first the Diaspora Armenians liked that program, but later they understood that it was a part of the pre-election platform (to note, last year there were rumors that Vardan Oskanyan might run for president), thus they refused to transfer the money they had promised. The problem is that during such marathons money is collected not only in cash or via money transfers, but also based on promises to transfer funds later. Accordingly, during the marathon many people promised to pay money (the official amount of 15 million was announced based on the promises as well), but did not pay the money they had promised (in other words they did not transfer the money to the foundation). These issues have been discussed during the recent session of the board of trustees. The session was presided by president Serzh Sargsyan, who, according to our information, blamed Vardan Oskanyan in failing this project (who assured that huge money would be collected upon presenting the project). The problem is that many programs to be implemented in Karabakh in the framework of this project are undermined (including the construction works of 25 kilometers long part of the North-West highway and a hospital).
