The Barracks has been Renamed as Hotel: The Berdakunq Military Unit Sold to a Cypriot Citizen

In a study conducted in 2022 by the Public Interests Protection Division of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Armenia, it was revealed that the military unit located in the Berdakunq community of Gegharkunik Province, which was granted to the Ministry of Defense for gratuitous use (the barracks covering 1878.3 m2, guardhouse, headquarters, electrical substation, boiler house, pump station with a total area of 370.1 m2, and a special purpose land plot of 1.9 hectares), was sold to a Russian citizen, G.V., under a sale agreement on November 30, 2012.

According to the sale contract, A.H. acted as the authorized person, empowered by the head of the Ministry of Defense staff, G.H., via a power of attorney issued on November 13, 2012. The selling price for the property, including the building and land, was set at 101 million 326 thousand drams. The sale agreement was notarized by the notary A.A. of the Central Notary District.

On December 3 and 10, 2012, G.V. submitted applications to the State Committee for Real Estate Cadastre (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) requesting state registration of rights. However, the Committee denied these applications on the grounds that the land plot necessary for servicing the purchased object is designated as special purpose land, which cannot be owned by an individual. The applications will be processed after changing the intended purpose of the land plot and submitting an address determination.

An investigation of the documents in the cadastre revealed that, based on the positive conclusion of the interagency commission established by Prime Minister of Armenia's decision No. 1064-A dated December 22, 2009, and the recommendation of the community leader, the Berdakunq community council passed decision No. 5 on August 27, 2013, modifying the main urban development plan to change the intended use of the land from "Special Purpose (Military) Land" to "Land of Special Protected Areas (For Recreation)".

A certificate issued in 2013 by B.D., the head of the Berdakunq community, confirmed that the aforementioned 1.73 ha land plot (size adjusted following mapping) does not fall within the scope of the restrictions defined by Article 60 of the Land Code of the Republic of Armenia and is not located in the expropriation zones for engineering-transport facilities, thus does not create servitudes.

On December 20, 2022, decision 1136-A was made by the Gavarr community head of Gegharkunik Province, aligning the intended use of the 1.73 ha land plot owned by G.V. at address 7, 5th Highway, Berdakunq settlement with the changes in the simplified general plan of the community. The designation of the "Special Purpose" land types was changed to “Special Protected Areas” while its functional designation changed from "Special Purpose (Military)" to "For Recreation". Accordingly, with this decision, the functional designation of the "Barracks" was changed to "Hotel", while that of the "Headquarters" was changed to "Guesthouse".

On the basis of the above decision, the Committee issued a certificate on December 22, 2022, granting G.V. ownership rights of the 1.73 ha land and buildings located at the specified address. The characteristics section of the certificate describes the intended use of the land as "Special Protected Areas" and its functional designation as being "For Recreation," with the building types noting that the "Barracks" has been renamed as "Hotel," and the "Headquarters" as "Guesthouse".

Six days after these changes, on December 28, 2022, G.V. sold the mentioned land and buildings for 158 million drams to E.A., a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus. Notably, the Constitution prohibits foreign citizens and stateless persons from owning land in Armenia, except for individuals with a special residence status in Armenia.

Considering that the circumstances revealed by the study may contain elements of a crime as defined by Article 308 of the Criminal Code of Armenia regarding the abuse of official powers or authority by officials, the findings were sent to the Anti-Corruption Committee on March 10, 2023, to determine whether to initiate a criminal proceeding.

On March 13, a criminal proceeding was initiated at the Anti-Corruption Committee based on paragraph 2 of part 2 of Article 441 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (abuse of powers by an official resulting in significant property damage).