Friend of Deputy Prime Minister and Former Minister's Relative and Their Associates in One State Agency

Friends of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan and their associates and relatives have been employed at the Road Department State Agency since 2020. Avinyan's friend is also the husband of the sister of former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Zaruhi Batoyan. Hetq.am reports this.

The Road Department State Agency is the legal successor of the Office for the Implementation of Transport Programs, which in turn is the successor to the State Agency for the Implementation of the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program. A government source for Hetq has informed that the friends and associates of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan have been appointed to various positions at the Road Department State Agency. In order to verify this information, the website sent several inquiries to Suren Papikyan, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, and Stepan Machyan, the General Director of the Road Department State Agency.

After three months of correspondence, significant information has still not been obtained from either Suren Papikyan or Stepan Machyan. Machyan even refused to provide any information about his biography. Nevertheless, Hetq.am presented details about who joined the Road Department State Agency in the second half of 2020.

Stepan Machyan was appointed as the acting General Director of the Agency on August 17 last year. Machyan is a friend of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan and his former advisor Davit Manukyan. In addition, Stepan Machyan is the husband of the sister of former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Zaruhi Batoyan. Hetq.am has contacted Machyan twice, asking him to provide his biography among other employees. Machyan has refused to provide information to Hetq.am's inquiries on both occasions, citing the protection of personal data. There are so many publications about Machyan's biography in open sources that the reasons for not providing his bio are questionable.

Vahagn Stepanyan is the Deputy General Director of the Road Department State Agency. According to the staff list provided in response to Hetq.am's written inquiry to Suren Papikyan, there is no information about Vahagn Stepanyan. However, Stepanyan is presented on the Agency's website as the Deputy General Director. He was appointed to this position on October 26, 2020. In March 2021, Vahagn Stepanyan's position on the Agency's website was listed as the Head of the Department of Program Management. Vahagn Stepanyan is a childhood friend of Stepan Machyan. He also refused to provide his biography to the website. It would be surprising if Vahagn Stepanyan had not worked in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. In 2019, he coordinated the programs of the Ministry's social protection department. Following Stepan Machyan's example, he later transitioned to the Agency.

Narek Mkrtchyan was appointed as an advisor to the General Director of the Road Department State Agency on October 12, 2020. Mkrtchyan is also a friend of Machyan. Like Vahagn Stepanyan, Narek Mkrtchyan’s position changed in March. According to the Agency's website, he is now the Head of Administrative Services.

In addition to Machyan's friends, his wife’s brother’s wife, Izabella Muradyan, has also received a position at the Road Department State Agency. She was appointed as the head of the construction project for the new bridge at the Bagratashen border crossing on November 14, 2020. Prior to joining the Agency, Izabella Muradyan held an advisory position in the office for medical and social expertise in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. How Izabella Muradyan transitioned from the field of medical and social expertise to managing the Bagratashen bridge construction project is known only to Stepan Machyan.

In addition to staff employees, there have been also non-staff workers at the Agency. From December 4, 2020 to February 2, 2021, the Agency contracted Lilith Asgariyan. She assisted in maintaining documents, ensuring timely responses to correspondence, copying documents, helping the General Director's assistant, and coordinating the workflow of the "Malbri" system. Lilith Asgariyan is the wife of a colleague of Stepan Machyan's brother, Artavazd Machyan.

Hetq.am asked Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan to provide information about the salaries, bonuses, and other payments equivalent to salaries paid for the past 6 months for positions at the Agency. Christine Ghalechyan, Papikyan's deputy, provided the total amount for each month. However, it does not clarify how much specifically each of the mentioned individuals received each month from the state non-commercial organization.

The question remains as to what professional experience these individuals have who have been entrusted with relevant positions in the Agency responsible for coordinating Armenia's major road construction programs.