Jermuk Group Issues Clarification Regarding Suren Papikyan's Apartment

Jermuk Group LLC has issued a clarification regarding the publication related to Suren Papikyan's apartment. The article published on HETQ.am stated that in the "Buryel" residential complex, the price of real estate starts at $2,500 per square meter. Under these conditions, Papikyan's purchased property was said to be valued at 169 million drams (approximately $412,000), but the minister reportedly purchased it for 69 million drams ($168,000).

The possibility of acquiring an apartment valued at $412,000 for $168,000 is likely influenced by the factor of another party in the transaction, Ashot Arsenyan.

The publication contained factual inaccuracies, distorted facts, and misleading conclusions that violate the reputation and rights of Jermuk Group LLC and its participants, as well as potentially misleading readers and prospective buyers.

In particular, the article implied that "... in the 'Buryel' residential complex, the price of 1 square meter starts at $2,500. In that case, Papikyan's purchased property is worth 169 million drams (about $412,000), but the minister bought it for 69 million drams ($168,000)." The author directly misleads the reader by linking two different time points with identical facts in the same sentence.

According to the established procedure for pricing newly built apartments, including those in the "Buryel" residential complex, potential buyers can reserve apartments even before the construction starts. The time from reservation to the actual sale of the purchase rights may take a long time (this involves obtaining the necessary permits from the company, the registration process in the cadastre, etc.). According to the pricing policy in construction, the selling price for apartments (the right to purchase apartments) is set lower in earlier stages of construction and increases as the completion date approaches and the degree of property completion increases.

Those who reserve a property later sign a purchase rights contract and acquire the real estate at the value set at the time of reservation. Therefore, it is clear that those who made an earlier reservation acquire the property at a lower price than those who reserve it later or make a purchase without reservation.

The prices of apartments differ based on the reservation period, floor number, degree of completion, and other conditions. Currently, approximately 90% of the apartments have been sold, and construction of the "Buryel" residential complex is nearing completion, which is why the prices for the purchase rights of unsold apartments are higher compared to previous sales prices.

The mentioned statement mistakenly or deliberately mixes two different facts: the purchase price of the purchase rights for real estate reserved in the initial phase of construction under the contract signed on July 27, 2022, and the purchase price of purchase rights for real estate being sold in a nearly completed building as of January 2023, which, as explained above, significantly differ from each other.

The subject of the transaction cited in the article was reserved by buyers at a competitive market price during the reservation period in the initial stage of construction and legally formalized under the sale agreement dated July 27, 2022. It should be noted that such price-setting procedures have been and continue to be applied to all buyers who made prior reservations.

For the sake of fairness, it should also be mentioned that the article accurately notes the recent increase in real estate prices on the market. At the same time, contradicting this point and ignoring a number of clear facts, the article combines previously existing and currently applicable prices in one sentence and attempts to present incorrect, misleading, and reputation-damaging information about the Company based on false reasoning.

The same property or the right to purchase real estate has different values at different times, depending on the reservation period, floor number, degree of completion, and market prices. The prices for the "Buryel" residential complex as of July 27, 2022, and today differ significantly, and currently higher-priced apartments could have been purchased at a substantially lower price during the earlier stages of construction with prior reservation.

The suggestion that the transaction mentioned in the article is conditioned by hypothetical factors is entirely fictitious and does not correspond to reality; it was concluded according to the pricing policy adopted by the company and fully complies with the market prices at the time, just like all other transactions.

Respectfully, Jermuk Group LLC.