High-Ranking Officials Demand the Sale of UCOM, Says Gurgen Khachatryan

Gurgen Khachatryan, co-founder of the Galaxy Group of Companies and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ucom, issued a statement today, in which he stated, "For the past 12 years, the development and strengthening of Ucom in the field of communication and telecommunications has been our top priority, for which we have invested social capital, resources, and extraordinary efforts and energy together with our partners. Naturally, I find it unnecessary to mention that we have never considered selling the company to any country or parties, understanding the importance of having a local telecom and the responsibility we have taken towards our citizens.

However, at the level of high-ranking officials in the country, a direct and indirect demand has been placed before me to sell Ucom through an unprofitable offer accompanied by public pressure. Furthermore, as part of this demand, the sale of our other significant activity, IUnetworks, a leading Armenian IT company, has also been presented. An illegal seizure of all assets, including stakes in companies, has been part of these violations. The threats have escalated to the point where it has been promised to create an unmanageable situation in the companies, which, according to them, would force us to agree to a sale at the lowest possible price.

I have tried to propose reasonable solutions, as I understand the catastrophic consequences of instability on our 3000 employees, local and international partners, and public projects currently underway or in completion. As we have maintained control of the situation, a direct demand to sell Ucom has been presented in recent days, and if we do not agree, I have been explicitly told that very soon I will be accused of committing particularly serious crimes and will be arrested, followed by similar actions against my brother, other family members, relatives, close associates, and others connected to us.

I request that it be noted that these violations are happening in an overt manner in 2020, during times of public information, and under conditions of a state of emergency declared due to the coronavirus, when a significant part of the country’s economy is already under pressure, including our group of companies.

Since the legal means of defense have been exhausted within the country, we are compelled to make this process public and turn to international platforms. Based on the circumstances, today we are only publicizing one incident, however, you should know that legal and moral boundaries have been crossed, which is fully documented and will be presented later. We call on ambassadors conducting diplomatic missions in Armenia, local and international business associations operating in Armenia, the Armenian Human Rights Defender, and human rights organizations to monitor this process and provide assessments. We demand an immediate cessation of these illegal acts and inform that we will not yield to pressures, provocations, or the unlawful use of state levers.

I am confident that our foundation is legal and moral, and we will not make the institutional structure built over 12 years, with its social capital and human destinies, a subject of bargaining even under the heaviest pressures. Ucom is not for sale, and our dignity is not up for negotiation."

It should be noted that the Galaxy Group of Companies was founded in 1999 by Gurgen, Artyom, and Aram Khachatryan and has become one of the country's top employers over its 20 years of operation, with nearly 3000 highly paid employees. The group also has a significant impact on the national GDP, with the average monthly salary in 2018 being 315,000 AMD, which improved to about 370,000 AMD in 2019. The Galaxy Group reaches every third household in Armenia through its services and is one of the largest taxpayers in Armenia, contributing 13-15 billion AMD in tax payments annually.