Armenia Defends COP17 Spending Amid Lawmaker Allegations of Waste

The Ministry of Environment of Armenia defended the procurement processes and costs for hosting the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), scheduled for October 19–30, 2026, in Yerevan. The government preliminarily allocated 18.5 billion drams, exceeding $50 million, from the 2026 state budget reserve fund for organizational services.

Lawmaker Lianna Manukyan of the Strong Armenia parliamentary faction challenged the spending, alleging the government is making "irrational purchases" under the pretext of the summit. Manukyan specifically questioned contracts for conference badge lanyards priced at 1,248 drams per unit and packaging costing nearly 25,000 drams per unit, claiming these figures significantly exceed market rates. She also criticized a 19 million-dram allocation for unforeseen expenses.

In response, the ministry stated that venue selection and service procurement followed mandatory United Nations standards. While the government authorized single-source procurement, the ministry conducted a public pre-qualification process with 12 organizations, from which the UN Secretariat independently selected the final provider. On October 12, the National Assembly ratified the hosting agreement, which includes a $2.166 million transfer to the Convention Secretariat.