The Special School Area is Sold to ‘Armenia Wine’ for the Construction of a High-Rise ‘Digitown’ IT International Center

The government, in its meeting on February 11, decided to withdraw the rights of usage granted to the State Non-Commercial Organization ‘Yerevan Musical School No. 13’ for the boiler house located at 13/12 Tigran Isakov Avenue, Yerevan, covering an area of 360.29 square meters, along with the associated land of 0.94964 hectares, and to sell it directly to ‘Armenia Wine’ LLC.

The assessed value of the property as of January 25, 2021, is 446,169.1 thousand drams, and the sale price for direct sale is set at 378,644.1 thousand drams. The buyer is also required to pay the cadastral value of the land of 0.94964 hectares, amounting to 236,355.9 thousand drams.

The justification for the decision states that the ‘Armenia Wine’ factory at 11/1 Isakov Street is implementing an investment program, which will lead to the construction of a high-rise ‘Digitown’ international center for innovative technologies. An estimated $40 million will be invested, creating 5,000 job opportunities.

The company has also requested to acquire the adjacent land measuring 9,053 square meters and the semi-ruined boiler house from the ‘Yerevan Musical School No. 13’ for the expansion of the project.

This issue was discussed with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports, which informed that the mentioned area is utilized by the organization as a sports ground due to the absence of a physical culture hall during the academic year. The space is also used for rehearsals of a wind band of 50 members and for organizing games and relaxation for boarding students, indicating that the semi-ruined boiler house on the premises is currently not in operation.

As a result of the discussions, a provision was included in the project, stating that if the property is sold, the company will allow students to use the sports field free of charge.

The company is expected to make an investment of 1 billion drams upon acquiring the property. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed surprise, asking, ‘Did we hear correctly, 5,000 jobs?’ Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Minister Suren Papikyan replied that this is assured by the company. Minister of High-Tech Industry Hakob Arshakyan noted that the company created 500 jobs in one year: ‘If we consider that the investment program will last several years, then there is a possibility for that to happen.’