Yerevan authorities actively involved in business seizure operation – Pastinfo

The Yerevan Municipality's decision to declare the 4th section of the Circular Park as an area of overriding public interest and the city authorities’ initiative to replace the tennis courts with cafes resembles an operation to seize a business. Moreover, the Mayor of Yerevan is personally taking the initiative to hand over the specified area of the park to the main shareholder of Evocabank, even granting permission to build cafes, Pastinfo reports.

The Power of 300 million Drams and Tigran Avinyan 

In May 2023, during a City Council meeting, Mayor Tigran Avinyan announced that the Chairman of the Board of Evocabank had donated 300 million AMD to the community for the reconstruction of a sports school, describing it as an exceptional gesture. Avinyan praised the bank’s action as a sign of love for the city. However, subsequent developments revealed that this "marriage" was based not on love, but on simple calculation. Moreover, the surrender of love to profit became evident just 2–3 months later. 

At the start of the academic year in September 2023, one of Yerevan’s City Council members, Ernest Avanesov, raised the alarm that community-run sports schools were receiving notices stating that, from that point onward, their employees must receive their salaries via Evocabank cards. Notably, according to the council member, these notices were sent from the Mayor’s Office itself. By January 2024, it became clear that the city authorities were planning to take the 4th section of the Circular Park from its current owner and transfer it to the management of a company owned by Evocabank's principal shareholder, Marieta Gevorgyan. 

Notably, the operation to "seize" the park area was officially announced during an operational meeting of the Yerevan Municipality held on January 8, 2024. During the meeting, Shoghik Yeranyan, Director of the Yerevan Urban Development Investment Program Implementation Office, stated that Green Rock Management Group LLC had applied to the Yerevan Municipality requesting the right to reconstruct and develop the 4th section of the Circular Park, located between Sayat-Nova and Nalbandyan Streets. 

It is worth noting that the real beneficiary of this company is Mareta Gevorkyan, who also holds 100% of the shares of Evocabank. What's most striking is that Green Rock Management Group began showing interest in the Circular Park shortly after its establishment, essentially targeting property owned by another entity, despite not even having a full year of operational history, and yet swiftly earning the favor of the Yerevan Municipality. According to the State Register of Legal Entities of the Ministry of Justice, Green Rock Management Group was registered on February 21, 2023. 

At that very same operational meeting, all doubts were dispelled: Mareta Gevorkyan specifically wants the 4th section of the Circular Park, even though it contains real estate owned by third parties under legal ownership and lawful lease agreements. At first glance, one would expect the city authorities to say: "Dear newly established company, we're glad you're interested in making an investment, but there are many neglected parks in the capital, start from there as the 4th section of the Circular Park has legal tenants." But no — instead, the groundwork is being laid for an operation to seize that section of the park from its lawful tenants. 

Manipulation of “Overriding Public Interest" Executed by the City Authorities 

In the section of the Circular Park now targeted by the newly established Green Rock Management Group, Game-Service CJSC holds valid lease agreements. In March 2013, a lease was signed for a 7,887.96 square meter plot of land, designated for the operation of a tennis court facility. This agreement remains in effect until 2038. Another lease agreement was signed in 2002 for a duration of 45 years, granting 1,200 square meters for the purpose of constructing a children’s sports playground. 

Over the years, no cafés were built in these areas, and they have been used according to their original contractual purposes. However, in January 2024, it became clear that this did not satisfy Yerevan’s current Mayor, Tigran Avinyan. During an operational meeting, instead of questioning what remarkable achievements a company with only a few months of history had accomplished, or why it suddenly decided to submit an investment proposal specifically for this area—Avinyan expressed dissatisfaction that tennis courts were located there. 

Shoghik Yeranyan, Director of the State Non-Commercial Organization, announced that there is a need to recognize the specified area as being of overriding public interest. A draft government decision is already being prepared to officially declare the area as such and to grant Green Rock Management Group the right to develop the land without a competitive tender.  

It is evident that this case involves manipulation of the concept of "public interest," since building cafés in the park cannot truly be considered a matter of public benefit. Furthermore, the municipal spokesperson announced that after transferring management to Green Rock Management Group, cafés will indeed be constructed there. "In order to ensure the effective use of the park and the possibility of year-round activity under various weather conditions, small enclosed structures will also be built or reconstructed in the park (such as food service points, a café, non-permanent buildings for family recreation and leisure, a souvenir shop, and a suitable environment will be provided for public events, including concerts and cultural programs)," Hayk Kostanyan wrote on social media on January 9, 2024. 

Furthermore, it has not yet been clarified why, after designating the considered area as being of overriding public interest, it should be granted without a competitive tender to one particular company, rather than to another company—perhaps one with much richer experience and a more interesting investment proposal. Why is the city government avoiding competition and wary of rivals? 

There is no answer to this question, even though PastInfo has formally submitted it in writing to the Yerevan Municipality. At present, all we know is that Avinyan has urged to accelerate the process and the seemingly unlawful steps of recognizing "overriding public interest." We will continue to present further evidence that these actions may be illegal. 

The shadowy side of the deal 

When did the project concerning the 4th section of the Circular Park first emerge, who is the real initiator, and what connection does Green Rock Management Group have with all this? 

As previously mentioned, during the Yerevan Municipality’s operational meeting in January 2024, Shoghik Yeranyan announced that a company named Green Rock Management Group had applied to the municipality requesting the rights to reconstruct and develop the 4th section of the Circular Park—stretching from Sayat-Nova Street to Nalbandyan Street. 

However, Green Rock Management told Azatutyun (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) that it was not they who approached the municipality, but rather the city authorities who approached them. 

“The municipality reached out to us with a proposal to renovate the 4th section of the Circular Park. We applied eight months ago. The initiative came from the municipality,” said Anna Salome, the company’s marketing director, to Azatutyun. So, Shoghik Yeranyan presented false information at the operational meeting, which is further supported by Tigran Avinyan’s statement. The fact is that Tigran Avinyan announced his plans related to the Circular Park as early as March 15, 2023: "We will soon present the complete project for the fourth section of the Circular Park, which I believe will be the most interesting among the submitted ones," Avinyan declared at a council session. 

Meanwhile, the company Green Rock Management Group was registered in the state registry only on February 21, 2023. This raises the question: Did Avinyan already know about the creation of this company specifically for the Circular Park project, or did they themselves initiate the project and create a dedicated company to implement it? In reality, we believe this question should primarily interest the prosecutor’s office, as there are elements of patronage involved. 

It is also notable that when speaking about the EVOCABANK donation of 300 million AMD, Avinyan did not mention that a company linked to the donor had submitted the reconstruction proposal for the 4th section of the park. But that is not all — Anna Salome has contradicted herself as well: on one hand, she said that the municipality applied eight months ago, and on the other, she claimed that the project had been ready about eight months ago. 

Caught in the vortex of a corrupt deal 

The tennis courts in Yerevan have their traditions and decades of history, and the city authorities’ initiative to demolish them has not been welcomed by the residents. How will the park be returned to the people when one of their cherished traditions is destroyed? Mayor Tigran Avinyan had no answer to this question and hastily tried to backtrack on his statements. During the procedural meeting on January 15, 2024, the mayor revisited the circular park issue and made a partial retreat, stating that this is not a plan to demolish the tennis club but that it must be rebuilt. Furthermore, Avinyan declared that the “reconstructed club” must be accessible to all athletes and coaches. But is it currently inaccessible, and what was the reason if so? Avinyan has not made these questions public either. 

However, the fact that the city administration is not canceling the lease agreement but instead trying to seize the territory by manipulating the concept of “public interest” indicates that the city hall has no evidence that the current tenant has breached the contractual obligations. The rest is merely a series of words aimed at masking an apparent corrupt deal. By the way, Factinfo has attempted to get a response from Yerevan City Hall on several of the raised questions, but at the time of publication, no response had been received. 

“Hovik Abrahamyan-2” Operation or How They Are Trying to Seize Property Under Restriction 

The area located in the Circular Park, which is currently being attempted to be seized, was leased out as early as 2002, with another part leased since 2013 to the company "Game-Service" (GAME-SERVICE CJSC), whose owner is the son of Samvel Sanamyan, the former head of the Customs Anti-Smuggling Department of the State Revenue Committee. 

In August 2024, it became known that the Prosecutor General’s Office had reviewed the property belonging to Samvel Sanamyan and his family members. Samvel Sanamyan, his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law were summoned to the department handling illegal asset confiscation cases to review the case materials and provide their position. 

By December 2024, a lawsuit for confiscation of the property had already been filed in court. Within the scope of this case, a restriction has been placed on the property belonging to the Sanamyan family, including the land plot located in the Circular Park. 

In other words, the city hall is urging the government to recognize public interest property that is currently under legal seizure, while the legislation prohibits any transactions involving seized property. Or they intend to make the Prosecutor’s Office an accomplice in their shadowy deals by first lifting the seizure, then declaring the property as public interest, and handing it over to the shareholder of Evocabank (EVOCABANK). What is the purpose of this whole chain of illegalities? Especially considering, as noted, there is already a lawsuit in court. If the Prosecutor’s Office is confident that illegal transactions have taken place and that, as a result, the company “Game-Service” (GAME-SERVICE CJSC) obtained rights over the said territory, then why doesn’t the city government wait for the court dispute to end and, if the Prosecutor’s Office wins, allow the land to be managed without declaring it public interest? But no — Avinyan has decided that right now, at any cost, the 4th section of the Circular Park must be taken away from the lawful tenant for the sake of Marieta Gevorkyan’s company. What interest does this company have to be part of such illegal deals? 

Ultimately, these matters may reach international judicial bodies, especially since the city government and the Kentron administrative district have already committed gross violations and handed over important “victories” to “Game-Service” (GAME-SERVICE CJSC), inciting “Green Rock Management Group” (GREEN ROCK MANAGEMENT GROUP) to unlawfulness. One key proof of this is the illegal commercial activity carried out at the initiative of the latter within the territory of “Game-Service” (GAME-SERVICE CJSC), without the knowledge or permission of the lawful owner. 

TO BE CONTINUED…