Head of the National Assembly's Staff Company Signed 13 Contracts with State Entities This Year

In 2022, the company "Argavand Furniture" LLC, owned by the head of the National Assembly's staff Vahan Naribekyan, signed a total of 13 contracts with various state bodies, four of which were executed through a "single source" procedure, meaning without a competitive bidding process. This information was reported by Hetq.am.

According to data from the state procurement system armeps.am, the total value of contracts signed with "Argavand Furniture" this year reached 22.5 million drams. In exchange for this amount, the company supplied various furniture to state agencies.

The last of these contracts was a procurement made by the Prime Minister's Office. Under a contract signed on May 6, for about 3 million drams, "Argavand Furniture" committed to supply 5 fire-resistant cabinets and 25 armchairs.

The largest contract of this year was signed on February 16 with the Yerevan State Medical University named after Mkhitar Heratsi. For nearly 7.5 million drams, the company owned by the head of the National Assembly's staff supplied chairs to the university.

Throughout 2022, contracts without a competitive bidding process were signed with the President's Office, the Public Television, the Statistical Committee, and the Constitutional Court with "Argavand Furniture" LLC.

It is worth noting that in previous articles we highlighted that the company, established in 2014, began to actively participate in and win state procurement contracts after the change of power in 2018. Prior to that, "Argavand Furniture" LLC had only won such contracts three times. Since the change of power, the number of contracts between "Argavand Furniture" and various state bodies has approached 180, with a total value of nearly 300 million drams.

We have also previously reported that since 2018, "Damkar" LLC, owned by Vahan Naribekyan's brother, has also been actively participating in state procurement competitions.

Vahan Naribekyan is a friend of National Assembly President Allen Simonyan and a member of the Civil Contract party. He was appointed head of the National Assembly's staff by Allen Simonyan's decree on August 3, 2021. On August 12, 2021, Naribekyan transferred the position of director of "Argavand Furniture" LLC to his brother Garik Naribekyan but continues to own 100% of the company's shares.

In an interview with Hetq, Vahan Naribekyan stated that they were previously obstructed from participating in the procurement process but now the field has liberalized. At the same time, Naribekyan asserted that his friendship with Allen Simonyan did not provide them with a favorable position. According to Naribekyan, he ceased engaging in business activities after being appointed head of the parliamentary staff.