The 'Golden Palace' Hotel in Tsaghkadzor to Be Auctioned for the 7th Time

The Armenian government is preparing to auction the 'Golden Palace' hotel in Tsaghkadzor for the seventh time. This decision was made during today’s cabinet meeting without a report or discussion.

According to the document published on the government’s website, the 7-story hotel is equipped with its own substation and pumping station, has a separate water supply system, and property. It is located at the end of the Tsaghkadzor community, next to the cable car.

It is noteworthy that the government organized six auctions in 2019 and 2020, but all the announced auctions failed due to a lack of applications. After each unsuccessful auction, the price of the property was reduced: while in June 2019 its market value was estimated at around 7.5 billion drams, it is now estimated at 5.9 billion drams.

In 2020, the building was temporarily used for isolating patients with coronavirus and later for providing temporary housing for refugees from Artsakh.

To facilitate the sale of the hotel, the government has decided to allow potential buyers to make payments over a period of five years in the case of successfully holding the auction.

It should be recalled that in a meeting on September 26, 2019, the Armenian government decided to accept the 'Golden Palace' hotel in Tsaghkadzor, formerly owned by former head of the Customs Committee Armen Avetisyan, as a donation. The former official made such a proposal after the National Security Service uncovered the fact that he had constructed three hotels with illegal funds.

On November 28, 2019, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that the hotel’s value was around 20 million dollars. In reality, its starting price was estimated at only 15.6 million USD, and it has since decreased to 14 million dollars. Meanwhile, Pashinyan expressed hope that the hotel should be auctioned off and the proceeds deposited into the state budget. Due to the unsuccessful auctions, the state budget has reportedly already lost about 1.5 million dollars.

In November 2018, a criminal case was initiated in the investigative department of the NSS regarding Armen Avetisyan’s illegal participation in entrepreneurial activities and the legalization of particularly large sums of money obtained through criminal means (money laundering).

According to the charges, Armen Avetisyan constructed his three hotels with illegally gained funds, and to conceal their origin, he presented them as foreign investments. For example, the construction of the 'Golden Palace' hotel complex on Yerevan's Freedom Avenue is attributed to 'Riverhill Holdings,' a company established in Cyprus's offshore zone.