Newly Appointed Head of National Assembly Staff and His Brother Supply Furniture to State Institutions

The newly appointed head-secretary of the National Assembly staff, Vahan Naribekyan, and his brother are supplying furniture to various state agencies through their two companies. Vahan Naribekyan had close ties with the authorities even before his recent appointment; he is a friend of the parliament speaker, Alen Simonyan. This was reported by Hetq.

The two companies mentioned are “Argavand Furniture” and “Damkar” LLCs. According to data from the state register of legal entities, “Argavand Furniture” LLC was founded on April 14, 2014. Vahan Naribekyan owns 100% of the company’s shares. Until recently, he was also the company’s director, but on August 12, he transferred the directorship to his brother, Garik Naribekyan, after being appointed the head-secretary of the National Assembly on August 3 by the chairman, Alen Simonyan.

Dozens of Purchases Since the 2018 Revolution

The name of the company already indicates that “Argavand Furniture” LLC operates in the Argavand community of the Ararat Region. Although the company was established in 2014, data from the public procurement system (armeps.am) shows it only began participating in state procurement processes in 2017. Since then, it has signed about 151 procurement contracts with various state entities, including the National Assembly.

Among the clients of “Argavand Furniture” LLC are the Prime Minister's office, the police, the State Revenue Committee, and various ministries. It is worth noting that only three of the aforementioned 151 contracts were signed before the power change in spring 2018. The remaining purchases took place after the Civil Contract Party came to power first in the executive branch and then in the legislative body. The total value of the contracts exceeds 250 million drams.

The largest contract was signed in July 2019, where the company committed to supply furniture to Yerevan State University for 37 million drams. The latest contracts were signed with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to a contract dated July 13, 2021, “Argavand Furniture” provided office furniture to the Ministry of Justice for 4 million drams, and on August 3, it supplied furniture to the Ministry of Emergency Situations for 800 thousand drams.

On February 2, 2020, a ceremony was held opening a new showroom of “Argavand Furniture” LLC in Argavand village, which was also attended by Alen Simonyan, who was still serving as the deputy speaker of the National Assembly at the time.

The other company participating in state procurements is “Damkar” LLC, which was established on July 30, 2018. The director and sole owner of the company is Garik Naribekyan, Vahan Naribekyan’s brother. Four months after its establishment, “Damkar” LLC began cooperating with the state. Since 2018, the company has signed 60 contracts with various state agencies, with a total value of about 70 million drams.

The latest procurement contract was signed with the police on August 12, 2021, where “Damkar” LLC committed to supply armchairs and small sofas for 3 million drams. Clients of “Damkar” LLC also include the National Assembly, the Prime Minister's office, Yerevan Municipality, the State Revenue Committee, the NSS, and others.

Vahan Naribekyan Claims Previous Obstacles

In an interview with Hetq, Vahan Naribekyan confirmed he is a friend of the National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan, stating he has known him since the 2000s. According to Naribekyan, he has always been alongside the working team, both before and after the 2018 power shift, and is a member of the Civil Contract Party.

When asked whether his friendship with Alen Simonyan had any influence on his company's success in public procurements, Vahan Naribekyan responded negatively. When questioned how it then happened that his company began winning more procurements primarily after the 2018 revolution, Naribekyan explained:

“The arrival of my friends to power in the country changed a lot. Before the revolution, there was a monopoly. We tried to somehow participate in the procurement processes, but there were always obstacles. When you wanted to supply some product, you were told that it wouldn’t work, it wasn’t good, we can’t. You would call and say you wanted to participate in the procurements, and the response would be, ‘Brother, please don’t supply that product; we already have someone we will buy from.’ Artificial barriers were erected against us. That is why we couldn’t enter the market.”

According to Naribekyan, there were corruption risks in the state procurement processes in the past, the field was not regulated, the software was deficient, and there was no oversight, while the system was simplified after the 2018 change in power. Vahan Naribekyan insists that they won contracts solely due to offering lower prices and providing quality products.

We also inquired why his brother’s company was founded just after the regime change in July 2018. The head of the National Assembly staff answered:

“Any company, if properly managed, will grow. “Argavand Furniture” LLC is an importer, and to keep the imports and production separate, my brother’s “Damkar” LLC began production.”

Vahan Naribekyan also mentioned that after his appointment as head-secretary of the National Assembly staff, he ceased business activities, having handed over the management of “Argavand Furniture” LLC to his brother, Garik Naribekyan.

Notably, at the beginning of 2020, the Ministry of Finance initiated a process to include “Damkar” LLC in a list of participants not eligible to participate in procurement processes based on a letter from the Ministry of High Technology Industry. On February 24, 2020, the process was approved, and “Damkar” LLC was barred from participating in procurement for two years. However, by court order, the Ministry of Finance was obliged to remove “Damkar” LLC from the list of ineligible participants, allowing the company to continue participating in public procurement processes.