Citizen Reports: The Sukiasyans Have Seized His Land - Spokesperson Responds

The "Hraparak" newspaper reports: At the end of October, the Prosecutor's Office of Armenia announced that the State Property Protection Department had conducted an investigation and appealed to the administrative court, challenging the legality of the privatization of the "Sil Plaza" business center located in the center of Yerevan and owned by the family of National Assembly deputy Khachatur Sukiasyan. The case is under the jurisdiction of Judge Ani Harutyunyan, with a preliminary hearing already held. The court has imposed a prohibition on the "Sil Plaza" owned by "Grzo Plaza" LLC, preventing its alienation until the final judicial act is established. It is not clear what course this proceeding will take in the near future as the next court hearing is scheduled for early 2023. It is worth recalling that the Sukiasyans privatized that building for a mere $5,600.

However, this process has raised the issue of the privatization of the area known as the "water store" from the 1990s, and various individuals have come forward claiming that their interests have been violated as a result of this privatization. We were contacted by Karen Esayan, who currently resides in the USA and had a property at 5 Arami Street, where a workshop for keys, locks, safes, and iron doors operated, housing various types of machinery and goods. He has owned the property since 1983, and later, when privatizations began, he wanted to privatize the area and paid a significant portion of the money, but before completing the process, the Sukiasyans appeared.

The State Property Registration and Denationalization Department of Armenia signed a contract with the individual enterprise "Ser-Robesayan" represented by Karen Esayan on November 29, 1994. The total price of the property was set at 2,147,388 drams to be paid in several phases, and Esayan acquired ownership at the time of signing the contract. However, the Executive Committee of the Yerevan City Council provided the buildings at 3 and 5 Arami Street and the adjoining lands to the Sukiasyans' "Astghik 1" cooperative for permanent use and reconstruction under Decision 47/3 dated December 15, 1995.

Karen Esayan recounts: "Initially, the area belonged to the Ministry of Household Services, later part of that building was converted into a bank, while I was allocated the other part, which I renovated, and I started working from 1983. Later, when privatization began, there was an inventory bureau, and an employee came and took measurements, stating that documents would be provided within a week regarding the evaluation of the area that consists of 5.30 x 11. The letter arrived, and as far as I remember, it was valued at approximately 2,138,000 drams. I paid about 1 million, and the privatization was in three phases. The second phase came, and I paid a portion again—about 500,000. In 1991 or 1992, I don’t remember the exact year, Alberto, their father, came to see me. He was a familiar face. He told me they had taken this area for themselves. I asked, 'How could this be? This is mine.' He replied, 'That’s irrelevant, watch out for yourself.' I said, 'Is this how it can be? This area has been mine since 1983. I depend on it for my family's livelihood.' He said, 'Brother, I have four sons; don’t make things difficult for yourself.' I warned him against scaring me with his sons. 'Let’s resolve this peacefully; I will not give up this area.' And so, he left.

Months passed; they were not seen, and I also went to Moscow, visiting a student there, when I received a call informing me they said they would give me a month to vacate the premises. I was surprised because they were not that well-known at the time. I returned to Yerevan, inquired to see who they were, and a man calling himself Saro Sukiasyan told me they had taken this place, that it was their property. I asked, 'How is this your property?' I showed him the documents. He said, 'Those are illegal documents; I am giving you time to vacate.' In the end, we had a few disputes, but there was no physical conflict.

I went to the deputy director of the Privatization Department and told them my story; they assured me no such instructions existed. Some time later, it was already 1994, he came back—without greeting, knocked on the door, and said, 'You have a week; get out.' He did not even look at me. I approached him, expressing that he was terminating my means of living. He asked, 'What do you propose?' Honestly, I already knew that Vano's nephew was behind this; without him, they couldn’t have done anything to me. I suggested he could give me a location on the Prospect. He replied, 'I can offer you something better; I know a guy at the Kosh quarry, I can send you two trucks of stone, go wherever you want, and I will arrange it for you.' That was his response. I said that I knew the value of the stone, as it was 15 kopecks per unit; that was not a feasible solution. Long story short, he claimed that it was their property and gave me one week.

Karen Esayan later went to the Sukiasyans: "I went to Saros; I must say Saros was more decent than Khich. We exchanged a couple of words when Khich came in, put his foot on his, and without saying hello asked, 'What do you want? Shall we give you a mill and be done with this?' I said, 'No, I need my space; I want nothing more, you can prepare the area, but leave me my space.' They said no; there should be no one beside them. I asked why it would be bad to be neighbors. They insisted no. At that time, there was a 'Zberkas' on the Prospect that had closed down. The area was slightly smaller than mine but could be taken. I suggested they do me this small favor; they responded saying they would do it once Khich became a deputy. At that time, Khachatur Sukiasyans had been running in the same area with Ara Sahakyan, Ara won, and he didn’t become a deputy. In the end, they assured me they would do it. The current president, Vahagn Khachatryan, was the chairman of the council back then, and he was behind all this. Saros called and turned on the speakerphone so I could hear. He said, 'Give that place to this man.' They agreed.

Four years later, Khachatur Sukiasyan knocked on the door again, telling me to vacate the area with one day’s notice. I questioned his constantly changing statements; he responded, 'You can die by the law, go complain to the law.' It should be noted that the area was granted to the Sukiasyans' "Astghik 1" cooperative in 1995 for modernization and was intended to operate as an auction center for contemporary Armenian artists' works, yet the building now functions as the "Sil Plaza." Later, Esayan attempted to contest the decisions of the Yerevan City Hall and then-mayor Vahagn Khachatryan in the civil court concerning the transfer of the area to the Sukiasyans.

Karen Esayan believes that all of this took place with the tolerance of the authorities at the time and, in certain instances, under direct participation. He also reached out to law enforcement, but no one dared oppose the Sukiasyans. Moreover, officials were replaced, and those who promised to resolve the issue were later removed from office. Esayan stated he even wrote to Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan but was never received. Witnessing the injustice against him, Esayan decided to leave Armenia in 2001. He told us in an interview that he is confident that justice will prevail one day, and he will return to Armenia.

"Hraparak" attempted to obtain clarifications from the Sukiasyans regarding the matter, but multiple attempts by the media to contact Khachatur or Saribek Sukiasyan were unsuccessful. The spokesperson for the Sukiasyans, Anna Mkrtchyan, responded to the media's inquiry stating that she does not wish to comment on this absurd information.