Urgent Purchase: New Details on the Expensive Car Bought for the Parliament Speaker

Hraparak.am reports that there has been a significant uproar online regarding the news that the government has decided to acquire a new service vehicle for National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan. An allocation of 90 million drams will be made from the Assembly’s savings budget to purchase a representative-class 7th generation BMW model vehicle from the official representative, "Euromotors," through a direct procurement process without a bidding. The specific model is the BMW 750 Li xDrive LCI, which is a long wheelbase version.

It is noteworthy that the Assembly speaker had been using a 2011 BMW 750 Li vehicle from the time of former speaker Hovik Abrahamyan. The justification for the decision states that the current technical maintenance of the 2011 BMW 750Li has become costly, making financial allocations for its operation and maintenance ineffective and impractical.

However, the public is not interested in these details. Since yesterday, there has been criticism online about the decision to buy a luxurious and expensive vehicle for the Assembly speaker, reminding that with this amount, it could have been used to equip borders, acquire tents, purchase vehicles for border villages, or solve social issues. Comparisons were also made with the fact that on the same day, the government rejected the opposition’s proposal to increase pensions, while approving the purchase of a service vehicle worth 90 million drams (more precisely, 185 thousand dollars) for the Assembly speaker.

The public’s anger and dissatisfaction are morally justified and understandable, especially given that the political force that has inflicted pain and misfortune on the people over the past three years came to power with promises, including to end "paddy governance." Yet, as soon as they arrived, they began to refresh their "paddy" situation, arguing that the inherited vehicles from previous administrations are old, worn out, and costly to maintain. They also explain the necessity of purchasing a new vehicle for the Assembly speaker, stating that the existing one was old, caused issues, frequently broke down, and repairing it was a significant expense for the budget.

For instance, it was mentioned that recently the transmission of that BMW had broken down, requiring more than 3 million drams for repair at the BMW service center. The Assembly rejected that repair quote and found a service point where the transmission of the vehicle was repaired for about 900 thousand drams. However, after that, the turbo charging system of the BMW’s engine failed. Ultimately, it was decided to decommission the vehicle by handing it over to the State Property Management Committee for auction, in order to acquire a new one that would not cause costs for several years.

Vahan Naribekyan, head of the Assembly staff, when asked why they decided to purchase the vehicle without announcing a tender, stated that it was an urgent purchase, and there was no other option, as there was practically no vehicle available for the Assembly speaker at this moment. However, it should be noted that there is another vehicle in the Assembly’s fleet serving the speaker – a Toyota Land Cruiser 200 off-road vehicle, which is also 10 years old and has worn out. Additionally, that off-road vehicle is mainly used for regional visits.

Indeed, there were not many options for announcing a tender. Since the Assembly speaker is entitled to a representative-class vehicle, it was necessary to look for such vehicles in the showrooms of companies that produce luxury class sedans. In Armenia, representative class models are sold only at three or four dealerships: BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Lexus, with corresponding models like the BMW 7-Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A8, and Lexus LS. Bentley also offers ultra-luxury sedans like the Flying Spur and Mulsanne, but these are significantly more expensive.

In the matter of representative class models in Armenia, the primary choices are Mercedes and BMW, with occasional selections from Audi and Lexus. The head of the Assembly staff informed us that initially, they were considering acquiring a Mercedes S-Class; however, there were no available vehicles at the Armenian dealership, necessitating a request to Germany, and additionally, Mercedes was more expensive. Audi was not chosen because, while it is a good vehicle, it is comparatively more costly than its competitors. Lexus was also not considered, possibly due to the fact that Lexus’s official representative in Armenia belongs to Robert Kocharian’s eldest son’s company, "Toyota Yerevan." Furthermore, the Assembly has an existing contract with "Euromotors," which compelled them to acquire a BMW 750 through a direct procurement process.

It should be noted that "Euromotors," which has been the official representative of the German BMW company in Armenia for years, was initially owned by the Hairapetyan brothers but has been acquired by the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party, Gagik Tsarukyan, for the past few years. Thus, the Assembly staff decided to procure this specific model from this dealership through a direct acquisition process. Incidentally, "Euromotors" currently has a unique offer until December 31, where various BMW models can be purchased with a discount of up to 44%. We attempted to clarify with "Euromotors" whether this vehicle was indeed sold at the mentioned price or if the 44% discount applied. However, the company stated it is a commercial secret and cannot disclose purchasing details. We did learn that it was acquired at a significantly lower price, meaning a special discount was provided for the Assembly speaker. The undiscounted price of the BMW 750 at this time is 107 million drams. The head of the Assembly staff stated that the vehicle is not armored, it is a standard version, and it has not yet been acquired, but is likely to be purchased next week.