Continuing Patronage: Friends of Arayik Harutyunyan's Protégé and CP Member in POAC

Since October 15, 2021, Armen Hovhannisyan has been acting as the director of the "Service for the Protection of Historical-Cultural Monuments and Historical Environment," operating under the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport. Before this role, he served as the deputy director, as reported by "Hetq." Armen Hovhannisyan was appointed as the head of the organization thanks to the sponsorship of former Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Arayik Harutyunyan's assistant (who is also a protégé) and now a member of the Civil Contract faction David Danielyan. Armen Hovhannisyan and David Danielyan are friends.

As mentioned, before taking on the duties of the director, Armen Hovhannisyan was the deputy director of POAC. Alongside his appointment as deputy director, David Danielyan began actively participating in the organization's "affairs" while he was still the minister's assistant. This is evidenced by their joint regional visits and Danielyan's presence during the presentations of reports from various divisions of POAC, as well as his frequent visits to the POAC's administrative building. While it is clear that it might fall under the authority of the Minister's assistant to monitor the activities of this POAC, even after becoming an MP, Danielyan continues to intervene in the POAC's operations, particularly regarding personnel movements that began following Hovhannisyan's appointment as acting director. Friends and relatives of both Danielyan and Hovhannisyan have occupied various positions within the POAC.

"Hetq" submitted a written inquiry to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, requesting the complete staffing list of the "Service for the Protection of Historical-Cultural Monuments and Historical Environment," including administrative personnel, structural divisions, and regional services. Our inquiry was redirected to Armen Hovhannisyan, acting director of POAC, who refused to provide the staffing list, claiming that it might contain "data that could directly or indirectly identify individuals" (quote from the response to our inquiry). The response regarding the staffing list only mentioned that POAC has 331 employees, with 70 in the administrative staff and 261 in regional services, reserves, and museum reserves.

Nevertheless, let us introduce how the relatives and acquaintances of Armen Hovhannisyan and David Danielyan have been employed at POAC. After Hovhannisyan took on the responsibilities of the director, David Danielyan's brother, Hayk Danielyan, was appointed as deputy director of POAC, who previously served as an advisor to the director and before that worked in the Kotayk regional service. David Danielyan's brother-in-law, Aram Antonyan, a student at the Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) University, has been hired in the department of exhibitions and event organization at POAC. Personnel changes have also occurred in POAC's Syunik regional service, with three heads replaced within a few months, all from Kapan and again close friends of David Danielyan. The current head, Shant Davtyan, previously worked as a laborer at the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine.

Let’s address the connections of Armen Hovhannisyan. After becoming the head of POAC, Hovhannisyan appointed his cousin, David Danielyan (do not confuse with the MP), as the advisor for external relations, who provides legal consultation. Notably, the advisor David Danielyan's mother, Astghik Hakobyan, once held the position of head of the Syunik regional service. She was dismissed after an incident involving former director Ara Tarverdian. Many of Hovhannisyan's relatives had already been working at POAC prior to his appointment as director, including two of his aunts, Gohar and Shushan, his sister Anna Hovhannisyan and her husband Roman Karapetyan, head of the Ararat regional service, as well as David Danielyan, who worked at POAC years ago as a lawyer and procurement specialist. This "extended family" was hired by another former director, Vladimir Poghosyan. After Hovhannisyan's appointment as acting director, Gohar Haroyan, who is a sister of Hovhannisyan's friend, was also hired in the human resources management department, being the daughter of his driver’s aunt.

Danielyan and Hovhannisyan do not deny information regarding these family connections. We have sent separate inquiries regarding these connections to MP David Danielyan and acting director Armen Hovhannisyan. We asked David Danielyan about his relationship with Armen Hovhannisyan, to which he replied that theirs is a friendly relationship. We inquired whether Hovhannisyan was appointed to the POAC director position at his initiative; the MP did not respond to this question, effectively not denying our information. We also inquired whether it is true that his brother, Hayk Danielyan, was appointed as the deputy director of POAC following Hovhannisyan’s appointment. David Danielyan did not directly respond to this question either, only noting that his brother worked at POAC before Hovhannisyan's appointment (which we have mentioned above). Regarding his brother-in-law, Aram Antonyan, Danielyan stated that he is not familiar with the details and advised us to contact POAC. We also sent written inquiries to Hovhannisyan regarding his connections. The acting director did not respond to any of the questions, citing the rights to privacy of personal and family life. While Armen Hovhannisyan could have simply denied our information if they were incorrect, this is essentially what he did not do.

900,000 Dram to David Danielyan's Wife's Company

Aside from personnel policy, attention should also be paid to the procurement processes at POAC, from which David Danielyan, again, has not been excluded. On March 25, 2022, the "Service for the Protection of Historical-Cultural Monuments and Historical Environment" signed a procurement agreement with "Kratoss" LLC for the development of program documents, which was established just 21 days earlier, on March 4. The value of the contract amounted to 900,000 Dram. The sole owner and director of "Kratoss" LLC is David Danielyan's wife Ani Antonyan. Another noteworthy fact regarding this transaction is that although the contract was signed on March 25, 2022, with "Kratoss" LLC, the invoice for the service was received on April 1 from "Kratoss-1" LLC, which was founded only 4 days before, on March 28, 2022. The sole owner and director of "Kratoss-1" LLC is again Ani Antonyan.

For further details, refer to "Hetq."