Tigran Avinyan's Mother Acquires Over 9 Hectares of Land During Son's Vice-Premiership

Former vice-premier and newly appointed deputy mayor of Yerevan, Tigran Avinyan's mother, Hasmik Khlghatyan, has acquired more than 9 hectares of land in the Armavir region, specifically in the area of Griboyedov village, over the past few years. Khlghatyan became the owner of the land through acquiring shares in two companies. The parcels belong to "Etalon G.A.M.A." and "Sanni Hous" companies. The transactions were executed and registered in the legal entities register in August 2018 and September 2020, at a time when Avinyan was serving as vice-premier. The two plots are adjacent to each other.

Earlier, it had been reported that Khlghatyan had purchased an apartment and a parking space in downtown Yerevan on Paronyan Street, as noted by CivilNet.

"Etalon G.A.M.A.": Avinyan's parents rent land from each other.
"Etalon G.A.M.A." was established in 1997 as an animal husbandry office. At the time of its establishment, the shareholder was Telman Avetisyan, who sold the company to businessman Arsen Galstyan a few months later. Until 2018, Galstyan held about 70 percent of the company’s shares, while his partners, Hrachya Margaryan, Eduard Abrahamyan, and Arsen Aslanyan, each held 10 percent shares. Eventually, all these shares passed to Avinyan's mother, who is currently the sole owner of "Etalon G.A.M.A." The company’s statutory capital is 70 million drams.

According to information from open sources, in 2017, the company had tax issues concerning land payments with the Ejmiadzin municipality, which had demanded repayment of 1.5 million drams in arrears. According to the "Datalex" platform, in 2013, the Ejmiadzin municipality had also claimed 4.1 million drams, but the case was not accepted for prosecution. In 2019, upon a corresponding decision by the mayor of Ejmiadzin, Diana Gasparyan, an address was assigned to the land owned by Khlghatyan’s company. According to the cadastre committee's documents, the total area of the land is about 5.2 hectares designated for industrial and production purposes. The plot includes a 568 square meter production facility, a 148 square meter office, a pool, guard stations, support buildings, and is fenced.

This April, Tigran Avinyan’s mother leased 1.7 hectares of the plot to "Irigate" company, owned by her husband, Armen Avinyan, for a 25-year term. The monthly rent between the spouses is set at 240,000 drams. "Irigate" is involved in dried fruit production and the implementation of irrigation systems. The company produces dried fruits under the "Chiruchamich" brand. As mentioned on their product website, they aim to develop modern solar drying technologies and export high-quality Armenian dried fruits. The founder and director of "Irigate" was Tigran Avinyan. According to the electronic register of legal entities, the current shareholder of "Irigate" is Tigran Avinyan’s brother, while the director is their father, Armen Avinyan. In 2018, "Hraparak" had revealed that the Agricultural Development Fund provided $35,000 to the company associated with the vice-premier for dried fruit production. The contract with "Irigate" was signed at a time when Tigran Avinyan was already vice-premier.

"Sanni Hous": Hasmik Khlghatyan's Other Company
The second company where Hasmik Khlghatyan has become the sole shareholder is "Sanni Hous". Established in 2011, the statutory capital of the company is 27.5 million drams. According to tax records, the company is engaged in the cultivation of vegetables and garden crops. At its inception, the shareholder was Gohar Aghajanyan, who is registered at the same address in the Armavir region as Valodya Movsisyan, the elder brother of former MP known by the nickname "Shmays".

Three months after the establishment of "Sanni Hous", Aghajanyan entirely transferred her shares to the Iranian citizen Moradi Ghadrijani Hosein. Later, Mahmoud Moradi Ghadrijani (20 percent), Mohsen Nayeb Mohammadi (30 percent), and Mahmoud Khodajou (30 percent) acquired shares in "Sanni Hous", and in 2020, Moradi Ghadrijani Hosein again became the sole shareholder of the company, which was then sold to Hasmik Khlghatyan.

"Sanni Hous" owns a plot of land about 4 hectares in size in the Griboyedov village, immediately adjacent to the land owned by "Etalon G.A.M.A." In the 1990s, this plot was the property of the state enterprise "Yerevan Chanshin" which housed an asphalt-concrete plant. In 2000, the enterprise was privatized and later due to existing debts, transferred to the State Enforcement Service, subsequently sold, and eventually became part of "Sanni Hous"'s capital and ownership. Hasmik Khlghatyan acquired the company in September 2020. According to the cadastre description, the land is designated for industrial purposes, featuring a semi-finished guardhouse, a gas distribution station, a warehouse, two pools, and another semi-finished pool, along with a wall.

On July 4, CivilNet presented the involvement of Tigran Avinyan's friend and former members of the vice-premier's staff in the "Growar" company. "Growar" has a license for the cultivation of industrial hemp, operating in Masis, with one of its shareholders being Stepanyan Margaryan, Avinyan's friend. The initiative for industrial hemp cultivation had been promoted by Tigran Avinyan during his term as vice-premier, and his office coordinated the legal foundations for hemp cultivation.

Tigran Avinyan became Yerevan's deputy mayor on September 23. His appointment was initially planned ten days earlier, but was postponed due to the Azerbaijani military's aggression against Armenian territory.

Next year, Avinyan will lead the Civil Contract party's list in Yerevan's municipal elections.