Several Buildings at Republic Square Becoming Hazardous

The newspaper "Hraparak" reports: "Republic Square, with its surrounding buildings, has been an architectural pride of our city since the early last century, a masterpiece of Tamanyan's Yerevan. Today, some of the buildings have been abandoned and are gradually becoming hazardous.

The state has either already rid itself of these properties by selling them to a wealthy individual or wants to do so. For instance, the Central Post building has been put up for auction several times but has failed to attract any buyers. It remains under the ministry of territorial administration and infrastructure's jurisdiction.

The former Ministry of Foreign Affairs building was purchased in 2012 by Argentine-Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian for over 51 million 271 thousand USD equivalent. Today, it is in poor condition and is soon to become hazardous. Located in the heart of Yerevan, the building has been abandoned, although Eurnekian had previously promised our government to construct a five-star hotel there.

Our government at the time, represented by the head of the state property management department, Arman Sahakyan, was thrilled that the building was sold for nearly three times its market value, gladly accepted Eurnekian's assurances, and provided the 14,000 square meter property to Eurnekian's Tango company without any conditions or deadlines for implementation.

This caused quite a stir in the press, but the government disregarded public opinion and proceeded with its actions. The only requirement set was the building’s preservation, limited solely to its external appearance, while any changes required approval from the Ministry of Culture since the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs building is considered a cultural heritage site.

One year later, Eurnekian promised again—not a five-star hotel, but a museum in the Republic Square building. Still, nothing was accomplished. After the revolution, in 2018, Argentina’s ambassador to Armenia, Gonzalo Uriolabebeitia, announced that Eduardo Eurnekian, a national hero of Armenia, wanted to build a new business center in the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. This was Eurnekian's third promise.

“The project will increase the volume of Argentine investments in Armenia,” the ambassador stated. However, in the four years since, there has been no movement. Whether the building is actually hazardous or not, if preservation costs have been incurred, whether it is heated or not—none of this is known.

According to our sources, the building is now at risk of collapse due to disuse. The municipality does not know whether there is a project related to the building's reconstruction; they redirect us to the state property management committee as the data-gathering body, and the committee states that, to their knowledge, no project has been submitted for the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.

Although sources close to Eurnekian's businesses insist that a project was submitted to the municipality a year ago, it was reviewed. Why hasn’t Eurnekian fulfilled his promises? Why is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building not in use? “It’s business. One day, he will do something good,” says Gevorg Abrahamyan, who has worked for years in public relations for the Argentine-Armenian businessman at Zvartnots Airport.

It is not that the businessman lacks funds or that business is bad; these are not the reasons he hasn’t fulfilled his promise to the Republic of Armenia.

The former trade union building at Republic Square is also condemned to a slow death. Former head of the Legal Division of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia, Mikael Piliposyan, fought hard but was unable to maintain his building. It has been sold off in parts since 2004-2005, with the final buyer being Moscow-based businessman Murad Sargsyan, owner of the Hayyat hotel.

In 2008, the Confederation of Trade Unions moved to the second building of the “Erebuni” hotel, which was also bought by the late Murad Sargsyan. The trade union building, as such, was exchanged for the Erebuni hotel's premises.

The trade unions acquired the building from Murad, renovated it, and occupied it. They are still there. There were incomplete matters left, and after Murad’s death, his brother, Samvel Sargsyan, the former governor of Vayots Dzor, finalized that transaction. I read in the press that Robert Kocharyan sold it, etc. In reality, he has nothing to do with the sale of that building; it is an absolute fabrication. It belongs to Murad Sargsyan's family,” says one of Murad Sargsyan's old friends who is close to the family.

The Hamkhts building is currently divided among several businesses—Z group, Senior, Converse Bank. But it is entirely abandoned. There used to be Holstein operating there, which had been a meeting point in the past. But now the entire building is empty; neither the meeting space operates nor does Holstein exist, nor does the ‘Senior’ hotel. The building has been vacant since 2016.”