Gifts in the Form of Real Estate: About Marukyan and His Relatives' Assets

During his years as an opposition MP, much has changed in the life of Edmon Marukyan, who rented a house in Yerevan, since 2018, writes "Antifake.am".

The source notes that Edmon Marukyan, who currently holds the position of Ambassador at Large under PM Pashinyan, is linked to several land plots and newly built villas in the "Vahagni" neighborhood through close relatives and friends since 2018.

Specifically, Edmon Marukyan's brother, Edgar Marukyan, acquired land in the "Vahagni" neighborhood between November 2018 and March 2019, on which he later developed a villa. The ownership rights to a rather luxurious multi-storey villa located at 6 Bazumi Street in the "Vahagni" neighborhood were transferred in August 2022 to another person connected with Edmon Marukyan, Vigen Geghamyan, who is a close friend of the Marukyan brothers.

The villa at 6 Bazumi Street in the "Vahagni" neighborhood is now leased out. An equally luxurious villa at 8 Bazumi Street, located immediately next to this villa, is also associated with Edmon Marukyan's brother.

From April to September 2019, Vigen Geghamyan, a close friend of the Marukyan brothers, acquired land at the aforementioned address and began developing a villa. In 2020, based on a purchase agreement, Vigen Geghamyan transferred the property located at this address to Edmon Marukyan's brother, Edgar Marukyan, who received a permit from the Yerevan City Hall in May of the same year to build a residential house. Construction was completed in 2021, and in December, he received a permit to operate the residential house. In August 2022, Marukyan's brother sold the villa to another person for $470,000.

It has also been revealed that Edmon Marukyan's friend, Vigen Geghamyan, and his mother-in-law, Mesrob Smbatyan, who is also a friend of Edmon Marukyan, are connected with several other land plots and villas on Bazumi Street in the "Vahagni" neighborhood. In addition to the villas at the 6th and 8th addresses mentioned above, Vigen Geghamyan and Mesrob Smbatyan have connections to the villas located at 3, 5, and 7 Bazumi Street in the "Vahagni" neighborhood.

They have periodically applied to the Yerevan City Hall since 2018 to obtain design, construction, and operation permits, and have managed to erect luxurious villas in a short period. Thus, in September 2018, the Yerevan City Hall granted Vigen Geghamyan permission to build a residential house at 3 Bazumi Street in the "Vahagni" neighborhood, while Mesrob Smbatyan received the same for 5 Bazumi Street. By July 2019, Geghamyan and Smbatyan already received completion certificates for the residential houses at those addresses, allowing for their operation. In April 2019, Mesrob Smbatyan obtained permission to design a residential house at 7 Bazumi Street, and in May of the same year, he received a construction permit for the same address. In August 2020, Edmon Marukyan's friend obtained an operation permit for this villa from the Yerevan City Hall.

Thus, at this time, Vigen Geghamyan, closely associated with Edmon Marukyan, owns villas at 3 and 6 Bazumi Street, while the connected individual Mesrob Smbatyan owns villas at 5 and 7 Bazumi Street in the "Vahagni" neighborhood. The villas at 3, 5, and 7 Bazumi Street are located directly across from the villas at 6 and 8 Bazumi Street related to Edmon Marukyan's brother.

The source of the funds necessary for the acquisition of land plots and the construction of luxurious villas in the Vahagni neighborhood by Edmon Marukyan’s relatives remains unclear. Neither Edmon Marukyan nor his wife, Tatevik Matinyan, according to the available data in the declarations, possess such large amounts of money. A review of the work history of Edmon Marukyan's brother, who operates in the field of information technology, does not give the impression that he could have become an owner of land plots in the "Vahagni" neighborhood and engaged in villa construction shortly after the regime change in 2018 by mere chance. Moreover, according to the registered data of legal entities, Vigen Geghamyan and Mesrob Smbatyan do not have businesses registered in Armenia related to the transactions with the villas in the "Vahagni" neighborhood.

Since 2018, in addition to the acquisition of villas by Edmon Marukyan's brother and related individuals in the "Vahagni" neighborhood, Edmon Marukyan himself also became a property owner in 2022.

Previously residing in the Avan administrative district and receiving reimbursements from the National Assembly for it, Edmon Marukyan received three real estate properties as a gift on March 7, 2022, just one week before assuming the position of Ambassador at Large of the Republic of Armenia: apartment 160 in building 55/17 on Tsarav Aghbyur Street, a garage, and a non-residential area in a multi-storey building. On March 14, Marukyan took up his new position.

The source has contacted Edmon Marukyan for comments regarding his connection to the villas in the "Vahagni" neighborhood. Upon hearing the question, he stated that he did not wish to comment on private individuals. It was noted that the question involved his brother and friends, to which Marukyan responded that information about him and his connected individuals could be found in the declarations, claiming he has no connection to his brother's assets. After around 8 minutes of conversation, Edmon Marukyan insisted that he had not provided commentary, yet during the conversation, he threatened with legal action regarding the not-yet-published article. Marukyan was reminded that the movements in the real estate transactions by the individuals connected with him began after the regime change in 2018, regarding which he suggested referring to the competent authorities.