Surik Khachatryan Recognized as Bankrupt

Surik Khachatryan, formerly the governor of Syunik and known by the nickname 'Liska', has been declared bankrupt by a court decision. An attachment has been imposed on the property owned by him.

The court session in Goris, presided over by Judge Samvel Grigoryan, approved the application of 'Haybusinessbank' CJSC against Surik Khachatryan in May of this year.

According to the judicial information system, the applicant informed the court that a credit card loan agreement was signed between 'Haybusinessbank' and Surik Khachatryan on July 7, 2017, under which the bank provided a credit line of 1,000,000 USD to the borrower, who was obliged to repay the loan by July 7, 2020, and pay 10% annually on it.

Furthermore, to secure the fulfillment of the loan obligations, a mortgage agreement was concluded on the same date between 'Haybusinessbank' and Surik Khachatryan, with the property located at 10/1 Ayasi Street, Yerevan, being pledged as collateral.

The applicant informed the court that the bank had sent a reminder to the borrower on June 22, 2018, regarding the fulfillment of obligations, notifying him that in case of non-payment of overdue amounts, the entire debt and damages would be subject to collection according to the credit agreement, however, the obligations were not fulfilled again.

On July 26, 2018, the bank submitted a collection notification to Surik Khachatryan, instructing him to fulfill his contractual obligations within two months, otherwise an out-of-court collection could be enforced against the pledged property, but again, the obligations were not met.

As of December 7, 2018, the debt of Surik Khachatryan to 'Haybusinessbank' amounted to 1,012,260.36 USD equivalent to 491,209,462.30 AMD, including utilized overdraft of 920,705.43 USD equivalent in AMD, calculated interest of 49,342.85 USD, interest on overdue overdraft of 31,681.34 USD, and penalties on overdue interest of 10,530.74 USD, with 254 days of overdue payments.

Therefore, the applicant requested the court to recognize the debtor, Surik Khachatryan, as bankrupt. However, the representative of the defendant raised objections in court, claiming they had not received the court's prior request for the fulfillment of obligations, nor the bank's notification regarding enforcement of the contract. They also disputed the amount of overdraft presented by the bank and the calculated interest.

After reviewing the application and evaluating the evidence collected in the case, the court found the application subject to approval. Specifically, the court deemed the agreement validated on the basis that the debtor's obligations are supported by a written transaction—the credit line agreement between Surik Khachatryan and 'Haybusinessbank' dated July 7, 2017.

The court also ruled that a collection notification dated July 26, 2018, had been sent to Surik Khachatryan regarding the pledged property without prior court approval, which was received by the debtor on August 4, 2018.

Regarding the objections presented by M. Zilfugharyan, the representative of Surik Khachatryan, the court found them to be baseless and subject to rejection. Furthermore, during the hearing convened to consider the objections, the debtor's representative did not appear despite being duly notified, nor did they present any evidence supporting the objections.

Thus, the court decided to grant the application of 'Haybusinessbank' against Surik Khachatryan. The court also ruled to impose an attachment on the property owned by Surik Khachatryan, except for the property on which enforcement cannot be applied by law.