ReOpen Media's closure politically motivated

ReOpen Media, a broadcasting company and news platform supported by Evocabank owner Vazgen Gevorgyan, has ceased operations following what multiple sources describe as a political decision handed down from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The shutdown was officially confirmed a few days ago. While ReOpen was considered a major and costly media project, sources familiar with the matter told Panorama.am that its closure was driven by Pashinyan’s “irrevocable” order.

Several theories have circulated about the motive, including suggestions that Azerbaijani officials were displeased with ReOpen’s Azerbaijani-language content.

However, the most compelling accounts suggest that members of the ruling Civil Contract party were growing increasingly uncomfortable with the outlet’s editorial independence and “free style”, especially at a time when tensions were already rising over critical reporting by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Armenian Service.

According to insiders, authorities tend to react more sharply not to overtly oppositional media, but to centrist outlets that maintain a balanced yet critical tone. ReOpen’s coverage in recent months, they say, had begun to unsettle senior party members.

Amid circulating rumors that “Avinyan is playing his own game”, Pashinyan instructed Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan to halt the operations of the fast-growing media outlet, which had increasingly challenged and embarrassed members of the ruling team on air.

Vazgen Gevorgyan is known for his close ties with Tigran Avinyan. This relationship has been reflected in tangible cooperation, including substantial financial contributions from Evocabank and its affiliated entities to the Yerevan Municipality, as well as large-scale joint projects in central Yerevan.

Sources indicate that Gevorgyan, whose Evocabank generated approximately $37 million in revenue last year, is so upset by the forced shutdown of ReOpen that he has begun reconsidering several other projects he bankrolls, some of which he has already terminated.

The photo of Vazgen Gevorgyan is sourced from the internet.